Do something Friday

"Space Fuels the Fire" © Liz Schneider

Finding a quiet space.

All summer it was go, go, go.  Summer activities kept me hopping.  Work was busier than normal for the summer (I don't know why).  And I kept holding on to the idea that things would calm down in the fall. -- That in the fall there would be time to sit and think and be creative and put together a new programs and learn new things without the stress of having to cram all that learning into the least possible time frame.  Well, guess what?  That didn't happen.  And that leaves me wondering  -- Now what?

The quiet and creative time has to happen or I won't do even a good job with the things in my life I want to be excellent at.  But just because the quiet isn't happening (which implies no real work or input from me -- the universe just creating magic time for me with no commitments to fill it) -- doesn't mean I can't get that time.

I need to make a choice to arrange my life (or my day or an hour) in a way that allows me to have the down time it takes to start to reconnect with myself.  Much of the summer was spent connecting with others -- and that is super, necessary, and vital too.  But most of us can't connect outwardly all the time (and most of us don't want to connect with just ourselves all the time either) -- so we are talking about recognizing the need to slow down and quiet down once in a while to reconnect.

Reconnecting with yourself is at the core of mindfulness.  Understanding the physical hunger signal is important for determining if and how much your body needs you to eat.  Understanding when you are stressed (which sometimes sneaks up on me so slowly that I don't really realize it until it hits me over the head with a frying pan), can lead to you getting back to the gym or taking that meditative walk instead of the 8 treks to the fridge.  Realizing you are so sick of the interior of your mini van because all you have done for the last month is drive kids here and there might lead you to head out on your bike -- or consider finding a car pool solution with other soccer parents.

What I'm asking is this -- make some time this weekend to reconnect with yourself.  Check in -- ask and listen to how you are feeling, what is starting to drive you crazy (and is amping up your trigger eating) so that you can create some new solutions to those feelings without mindlessly turning to food to handle the stress.