I love living in the South. In fact, I’ve always taken pride in my Virginian heritage and secretly wish I had a thicker Southern drawl to my voice.
My best friend from NYC is in town, so in an effort to share some of my love for the South with her, Brandon and I took her to Tim’s II Riverside Grill for the infamous Aquapalooza, which is really just a fancy word for a crazy, country, weekend-long party with hundreds of people, boats and booze. We didn’t go for the party, but rather for the fireworks, fresh air and unparalleled opportunities to people watch. The problem is that my people watching turned me in-congruent. I found myself “entertaining” my mind by assessing the exterior and the behaviors of others. Mentally distancing myself from “them”, I hypocritically took them for face value and felt astray from my normal perspective of loving acceptance and empathy. We had a great time, it’s hard not to at Tim’s II, but something felt funny about the whole thing. It turns out, it was me.
When it’s time to get real with yourself, get real. Don’t beat around the bush or bury your head in the sand. If you want to live an uncommon life that is worth telling a story about then you have to be willing to do uncommon things and to be 100% completely honest with yourself, your actions and your thought life. When you feel “off” figure out why and you might just find that your actions (and action in thought) is not matching that which you truly profess to believe in your heart. We all experience these blips, they are the little lighthouses of our soul that keep us true to who we are meant to be. Course correct this weekend. Forgive yourself for veering and then get right back on track!
Reflection of the Weekend:
What haven’t you been completely honest with yourself about and what are you going to do about it? Make a three-point list of action items that you will proactively reconcile this week in your thought life and actions. For me that means catching my thoughts each and every time a thought of judgement even peaks out; I will catch them and then squash them. I already feel more free (and like myself) with this simple plan of action and I know that you will too in whatever it is that you absolutely must take control of this weekend as well.
Challenge of the Weekend:
Spend 10 minutes this Sunday mediating. Yep, that’s right, just meditating. I don’t mean stretching and thinking about positive things, or doing a yoga class or anything prescribed, I mean simple meditation. Here are your action steps to make this happen (and why your well-being will be grateful as a result!):
Split your 10 minutes into 2 sessions of 5 minutes.
Sit tall, with your legs crossed and the palms of your hands upward.
Clear your mind and perform 5 deep breathes with your eyes closed through your nostrils.
Acknowledge that you will have thoughts enter your mind, think of them like clouds passing through and allow them to.
Think about one word, or mantra, and allow the word to linger on your mind as it pushes out other thoughts.
Put a timer on your phone to alert you when to open your eyes after your five minutes.
Meditation is a tool that will strengthen your sub-conscious mind. It is a hard discipline to develop, so be patient with yourself and focus on learning how to simply be still. It is when we are truly still that we are able to listen to what life is really speaking to us, so be still and just breathe.