Today is Friday. We have made it to the finishing line before the long holiday weekend. At least, I hope it’s a long weekend for you. Wherever you are, I hope you will celebrate the completion of this week even if it’s just a little bit.
Buy yourself some grocery store flowers like the sunflowers I bought for myself a few weeks ago. Take a long walk in the woods after work. Stop by your favorite local bookstore and buy some fabulous book to kick your feet up with. Take a long, hot bath. Grab your favorite sandwich at the local deli. Pack a bag and take an impromptu road trip. Close the curtains to keep out the heat and have a Harry Potter movie marathon.
Do something that will bring you joy or peace or relaxation or excitement or whatever it is you need to help you say “it was a long week but I managed the stress and I am still standing.”
Dentist, hair and chiropractor appointments early in the week, busy days at work, a blood drive donation, and an excellent concert one night kept me hustling and on the road a lot. I also got a new phone which has caused another layer of complications.
Unfortunately, I had some sleepless nights too.
Around here we value sleep as a means for overall wellness and it just wasn’t coming. In addition to the tired, I have felt dehydrated and off balance.
This is not a great combination.
So I had a chat with Scout last night. As I carried him to bed, I explained how badly I needed to get some rest. Could he please play quietly if he woke up before me?
Would you believe I didn’t hear a peep out of that little cat for fourteen hours? Long story short, I slept till after noon today – something so rare I can’t recall the last time it happened.
And I’m still kind of tired.
So around here today, I’m thinking it’s going to be a hot shower and fresh pjs kind of day. I am going to light a fall scented candle (because if I don’t go outside it can be any season I want) and curl up with books (maybe even something with illustrations) and pretend that feeling rested and reading is my only job.
Have a great Saturday, friends! At least what’s left of it!
Around here, mindfulness is the word as I try to slow things down, soften the edges of my own life, and remove myself from places where I do not belong.
Around here, I’m holding onto my post vacation haze as best as I can and am working to follow through on my promises to eat better and enjoy more quiet time doing what pleases me. Reading a book in bed has never been a bad idea.
It feels like fall right now and I’m loving every minute of it even though the forecast is for upper eighties next week. I’ll live in this moment and take my meals on the back porch. This weekend I made a hearty soup and began planning for more new-to-me soup recipes. Any dish that starts with onion, celery and carrots in a big pot is fine by me.
Around here, I am suffering the consequences of reinjuring a knee that had been healing. This time, though, I’m taking it more seriously since the doctor has been more plain and scary with his language. I turned down a hike this weekend because a trip to the grocery store Friday night had left it too inflamed and angry to be out in the woods.
Although, natural ground is quite pleasing as opposed to the harsh concrete and pavement that covers so much of our “civilized” world. What does that impulse to build and pave over everything that is natural say about our choices as humans?
Around here, I’m making a conscious effort to leave the tv off and the smartphone out of reach. I watch very little tv but tend to turn it on for noise. I have been listening to more podcasts and music lately and have been reading more books. I have been better able to focus on what’s in front of me which is no small accomplishment in a world of constant distraction.
Around here, I’m enjoying more porch meals which are always accompanied by a show. An orchestra comprised of all the best things found in nature make an amazing sound track for even the simplest meal. I wish more people understood the beauty in being quiet in nature. The buzz of a hummingbird’s wings as it hovers over a flower, the constant thrum of locusts, chirps of crickets, the occasional tree frog, and coo of the Mourning Dove are just a few of my favorite sounds. Even the rustle of breeze through changing leaves sounds remarkable when you allow yourself to enjoy such small pleasures.
Around here, it’s the start of another week. More busy days, more dr appointments, more meals to cook, and more meetings are the sort of toil sure to keep the week moving forward. I hope to squeeze in plenty of porch meals, reading time and other things that bring joy to my days.
Around here, I recognize that this won’t just happen. I have to make it all happen so that around here is a place I really want to be.
Yesterday I found myself standing in a store window watching a gentleman walk down the sidewalk. He first caught my eye because he was carrying a tennis ball.
And then he suddenly gave that ball a good bounce on the sidewalk.
He caught the ball, took a few more steps and bounced it again before walking some more steps and repeating the pattern.
I currently have some questions for this man. Does he always carry a tennis ball? Was he out on a walk and this is some kind of coordination exercise? Did he just find the ball somewhere? Did he plan to gift it to a dog? Is he going to play tennis? If so, where is his racket?
But, at the time, I was completely mesmerized by the sight of this older person walking down the sidewalk, idly bouncing a ball like a ten year old boy. He had a skip in his step and I got the impression bouncing the ball made him feel like a kid again.
We would all have a skip in our step if we stopped taking everything so seriously and tried embracing the things that make us feel young.
I watched the man step-step-step-bounce all the way out of sight and I admired him for doing his own thing amidst a crowd of people so intent on just moving forward. They had no skip and I felt no joy watching them.
It’s Sunday, friends. Why don’t we all try doing something that puts the skip back in our step?
Waking up to a snowy world on a day when you have no real responsibilities, a book to read and a pretty Christmas tree to admire is one of life’s great gifts.
The book I’m reading today is a kid’s chapter book but it’s exactly what I need right now.
Sometimes we all need to give our brains and bodies a break and stop trying to be so smart and productive. Sometimes, a fourth grade reading level is exactly where we need to be. Sometimes a sweet story about a diverse group of little animals who live and work together despite their differences is the perfect choice for a tired mind.
Don’t worry, friends. This adventurer will rest for now but has fun plans for later today. I hope you do as well.
November is a great time to start saying no to things that aren’t important or that don’t fit in with your life plan. It is NOvember, after all.
It doesn’t have to be drastic but small changes can be beneficial. This week has been challenging because I was overbooked and torn in a few directions every single day. With plans of some kind every night this week, there wasn’t much downtime or even time to keep up with daily chores.
Thankfully, every week isn’t like this in my world. The busyness did make it easier to say no to doomscrolling or to following a routine just because I usually do it.
Lately, I find my attention span suffering because there are lots of things and people at the ready to take my brain by the hand and lead it away to what they want me to do. How DOES one concentrate in that environment?
Today, I’m saying no to almost everything. I slept in. There are a few chores to be done. At some point I’ll take a shower and put on clean pajamas because, after all, I’m not saying no to personal hygiene!
Eventually, I will prop up my sprained ankle and read or watch a movie. I bought a new puzzle aimed at keeping me still. Perhaps that’s in my future as well.
I’m starting to transition into a quieter season of life as I lean into the colder, shorter days of winter. We’ll call this day one of appreciating how the cooler season can contribute to mental health and overall wellness.
Enough about me.
While my story may sound relatable, your story is probably completely different. What should YOU be saying NO to this NOvember?
We are nearing the end of the month but it’s never too late to start! Is it an expensive vice like vaping or energy drinks? Should you be saying no to the PTO president who has learned to guilt you into submission because the other parents scatter into the wind when there’s work to be done?
Maybe there are tasks you do because you’ve “always done it that way.” Now that’s a terrible phrase. And just how much time are you spending binging tv or scrolling on your phone when you could be playing with your kids, traveling or doing all the things you say you want to do?
What is it that’s distracting you, eating up your money and robbing you of precious time? Life is so short. Bad habits, energy thieves and people who steal time will make it seem shorter.
Time is a trickster. We all get the same 24 hours in a day but, when you’re little, the days feel so long and like they’ll never end. Christmas will never come when you’re a kid and it’s only June. As you age, time speeds up until life feels almost like a runaway train. Blink and you’ll miss it.
Time will continue to march on with or without permission. Saying NO to what we can allows us to say YES to what matters most. In my case today, that will be my mental and physical health. My yes may be different every day and yours may as well.
It’s Saturday, friends. It’s as good a day as any to start saying no!
