My Goal This Holiday? To Get Presence!
Over the next 25 days I will post a kaleidoscope of daily wisdom from various sources about the power of being present as well and any insights or A-Ha’s I hit along the way.
Why?
Because last year I fell asleep New Years Eve wondering what the hell happened to December. I felt I missed so much of the holidays because I wasn’t present to it. Meaning I spent most of it in my head, planning things to “do” wrapped up in warm fuzzy expectations, with those moments arriving looking and feeling completely different. This time of year brings a lot of unspoken expectations, demands on where we should go, what we should buy and who we should visit. Even with well-meaning intentions, I felt responsible (and then resentful) for making it all happen. Tis the season to be a Martyr! (harsh but true).
It was a gong show of trying to hard to do more than I really wanted and frustrated at not getting any of it done well. I sensed my building emotions and even though I “knew better” I stayed silent, stuffed my feelings only to lash out at my family and shut myself away when it all felt like too much. That is, until the epic meltdown my lucky husband got to experience smack dab in the middle of the festivities. I did my best to recover post-meltdown but never really got my feet until I woke up on New Years Day and wrote down this epiphany ..
“It’s how we are in relationship with ourselves that creates our reality.”
In the blog post that followed, I dedicated a love song to myself declaring 2014 a year of Self Love to avoid experiencing that level of disconnection and inauthenticity again. Because it sucked.
So here we are again December. And this time, get to practice what I preach when I say “It is NEVER too late for a do-over”.
Welcome to DO-OVER December!
Over the next 25 days I am going to love myself more by slowing down and getting present which is to pay attention and let the moment open up so I can appreciate and experience it fully -whatever GIFTS it has to offer.
This is not about making it all “good”. What’s the fun (or growth) in that? LOL.
It’s about being here, now. Open to the full experience.
What does being present mean to me?
It’s slowing down to pay attention to my life and experience. And feeling it all. To be more in my body and the experience rather than caught up in my thoughts about the experience – which can take me places I don’t really want or need to go.
It’s being honest about my feelings and reactions and sticking close to home (home being the experience inside me).
Being present is the willingness to express myself but not necessarily not to others – to myself, for myself.
It’s daring to be present to it all knowing I may very well suck at it sometimes. However, it’s having the courage to begin again in each new moment because there is always another moment right around the corner to choose how I want to BE in it.
Tip: Like yoga, being present is a practice, not something you nail overnight. One moment at a time.
So how do YOU stay present? What works, what doesn’t?
Share in the comments below.
Let’s discuss our own unique experiences to learn from each other. I’ll also be posting on my Facebook page and will be engaging there too, so feel free to jump in. The water’s warm and you are in good company.
So let’s do this. Eyes wide open, December. We’ve got this.
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