Is your Life Flying By?

Events happen in our lives, and things change…things close to us, and things outside our circle too.  Sometimes all those things change how we look at our lives.

Do we take note when our circumstances change…do we reflect…?  Do we check in with ourselves to test our real feelings at the moment?  Do we even feel that’s important, to take time to reflect, and “feel” the shift, or the change, or the small moments that touch our hearts?

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If we don’t pay close attention to the “moments” of our lives, it’s easy for us to miss the years.

Sometimes we start our day with the most noble plans.  But by that evening, we’ve had interruptions and changes in what we get done and before we know it, the clock says 6 pm, and our time for those plans is gone.

On Monday’s we may have the greatest of plans for what we will accomplish during the week—then it’s Friday before we know it and those things didn’t get done.

What gets done during those “fly-by times”? 

Interruptions…those amount to just time thrown away…

Saying “Yes” to too many things, or too many people…

those usually give the feeling of overwhelm…and does it really

help those things/people?  Is it more valuable in the end, than what

you had that time allotted for?                                                          Is it filling your calendar with too many tasks to do, or appointments? If so, it’s like filling a glass past overflowing, and we continue to pour….     

DO THESE THINGS—these Shifts—or the small but important times… REALLY MATTER TO OUR OVERALL LIFE?          

Well, Yes.  Yes, they do.

Whether it’s our “schedule” filled too full, or our calendar not being kept up, or not leaving a time buffer for overlaps, our “to do” list being longer than could possibly be finished, or maybe just “being nice” to everyone by saying “Yes” to more than you can actually do… it could be one of those things; it could be all of them.

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I wonder how it would be if we took 5-10 minutes in between a couple of those things in the morning, then maybe 10-15 minutes in between a couple of the distractions in the evening, and used that time to meditate…. or simply breathe deeply and focus on your breathing.

What do you think of “meditation”?

Meditation twice a day, morning and evening, has been proven to help a person think quicker and clearer, think deeper, remember better, and to feel more focused… that it helps us align our thinking with who we really are….  I think it must force us to be closer to our real, true thoughts.  You will also feel more calm.  You may feel that right away.

I suggest you sit in a quiet place, feet on the floor, pretty much first thing in the morning; I suggest checking a clock, just so you can know when you start.  Close your eyes.  Take 4 or 5 deep breaths, then check in with yourself to listen to any sounds you may hear; if there are any smells that you smell, any tastes, or anything you feel, on your skin, or anywhere.  Then decide to put those smells and sounds and feels, in a separate place in your brain that will not interfere with your focus.

Then, decide on a simple “word” or “mental picture” to think on.  A suggestion for me when I started, was the word “one”.  Focus on the word you choose for 5-10 minutes. 

Yes.  Your mind will wander.  It’s normal—to be expected.  When that happens, just calmly and simply, bring your mind back to your word or “picture”.  It’ll wander again… something you forgot to do yesterday; what you may want for dinner; all kinds of things.  It’s ok. 

I always end my meditation with a prayer of thankfulness.

The resource I used for learning to meditate was a book written by Emily Fletcher, Stress Less, Accomplish More, and the website, ZivaMeditation.com.  This program is actually endorsed by Dr. Mark Hyman, MD, and head of  Functional Medicine at Cleveland Clinic.

You can not meditate wrong.  Repeat this in mid-afternoon, or at least before your evening meal.

If you do not want to meditate, just sit and breathe for a few minutes, and focus on your breathing.  Breathe out a second or two longer than you breathe in.  There are all kinds of different ways to “breathe” that helps you.  And you will probably feel more calm. 

I know this helps, because I’ve done it.  It makes a difference.

If you do this, I’d truly like to know what your results are after a couple of weeks.  Sharon@whereisyourcalm.com

And if you’d like for me to help you with this in any way, send me a message.

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We had our 5th annual family reunion this past weekend.

We’re blessed with 2-3-4 people (and their families) who give of themselves to plan it, coordinate it, plan and coordinate activities, buy food, and prepare the meals in camp.

One year we had 35 in attendance from several different states, along with all of our locals.

Some camp at the site of the reunion, and some stay in the hotel on the same property.  It’s our goal for everyone—even the ones who cook and organize, to be able to actually truly enjoy the long weekend together.

Yes…everyone has their phones and devices.  They got to keep up with the Razorback’s game score, etc.  but we had several activities happening during the day; kick ball; learning facts about bears; painting designs on a piece of wood (that everyone can do); they had teams of 3-4 of our group competing in a very funny (and fun for everyone) scavenger hunt. One morning we went on a fairly difficult hike on the “Lover’s Leap Trail”.

In the evenings in camp there were group games for the night owls.

On Saturday nights, we have an auction.  Each person brings at least one thing to be put in our auction.  One of the cousins acts as our (very good) auctioneer.  It’s a lot of good fun—the items are mostly hand-made by whoever brought them, or could be an item with family history—like this little covered wagon that my cousin brought that my dad had made from part of a yardstick and small pieces of “weaving cane”.  The money from the auction goes toward paying for each person to ride the miniature scenic train, have an ice cream, and play miniature golf.

We call this the Cousin’s Reunion, because it was their idea, and they are the main ones who organize it and carry it out.  When my mom died, the cousins decided it wasn’t right to just see each other at funerals.  The reunion was actually started in her honor—she always loved for everyone to get together. 

During these real life activities, we get to know our family better.  What we’re really like.

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When we’re actively enjoying others’ presence, these things help us to be “in the moment”.

Our lives are made to be full of this type of moments.  It naturally stimulates our brains, and what does it do to our hearts?  It fills our hearts up with the things we need to truly care more about the people we share this earth with.  It also grounds us to what our family’s foundation is.  It helps us to know more about who we are, ourselves.

One more important thing it does, it keeps us off our electronics.  We’re actually living our life.

When we live our lives like this, that’s how NORMAL should be, and we would do very good to add more of those times into our lives…

…so that when 10 or 30 years has passed, instead of having to say, “I don’t know what happened to the time”, we can say… “Do you remember when…”, and

remember “the time we found that huge rattlesnake right near where we had been sitting, and the kids had been playing there”… and

remember “the time Bailey broke his ankle while we were playing a (lighted) game in the dark night”… or,

remember “the time I was so out of breath on the trail they were worried about me”… and we’ll

always remember “the cinnamon biscuits Nancy makes”…

We’ll know more about the good times we had and the memories of the cousins we never would have gotten that close to if we hadn’t made the commitment to this event.

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Does your life look Full of Work—Full of “faded plans”…?

It seems like our very culture today is determined to steal the good that could be in our lives. 

So, What’s the Solution?

Any hope of changing our Culture?

Only one person.

How can we get more good things into our life, and actually feel the “feels” of the good times?  And look back on those memories. 

Look how many awesome memories you will have if you have time to reflect on those times.

Some happenings in our lives we don’t even remember, that if we could think back on them we would have a warm feeling in our heart…

So. TRULY… Can it be fixed???

Yes…Yes, it can…

You might have to change the way you work…

Or change the way you spend your free time…

Or your TV time…

Or your scrolling time… (no judgment here)

Or your “Yes, I will” condition, to please other people…

BUT… WHO IS IN CHARGE OF YOUR LIFE?

YOU.  ONLY YOU.

You are in Charge.  And it’s within your power to change how things are.

That is the Number 1 TRUTH that you can hide in your mind and heart—You are in Charge.  And it is within your power to change how things are.  Don’t be persuaded that this isn’t true.  It’s true.

“If Only” is poisonous.

“I didn’t have time” is an incorrect statement.

“I forgot” is usually caused from living the (over-full) Standard American Lifestyle.  It puts us at a loss, instead of having plenty.

“I’ll do it later” truly has no strength or energy to it.

RIGHT NOW is the time you are given.  Things change.  Priorities change.  People change.  People’s health changes.  Kids grow up.

RIGHT NOW are our best moments.

Let’s savor them.  One at a time.

See the good.

Appreciate the love.

Appreciate someone’s presence.

Experience your now.

It’s a short trip.  Let’s experience every little bit of it.

Take some quiet time regularly, like every day.

Take some time to connect with your friends and family.

Take some time to be thankful.

These are the most important moments in your life.  These are the moments that will keep you from feeling like life has flown by as the years pass.

So, regardless of what’s important to you at the moment, regardless of what season your life is in, you can feel the value in that special time.   Maybe this time for you is full of pain or heartache.  And if so, you may have to search harder for things to be thankful for.  But they are there.  And if you search, you will find them.  And be thankful.

All things in life happen for a reason.  And they don’t last forever, good or not-so-good.

Family is Valuable.  So are Friends.

We can never go back.  Today is a good day to plan a direction.  A direction for YOU—to have more connection with friends and family.

Plan something today.  If it’s nothing more than a dinner.  And of course, it doesn’t have to be “family”—it can be people you care about, or people you have things in common with.  And determine to do the things that you can enjoy together.

Let’s take every moment to enjoy our lives, and the people in them, to the best we possibly can, so we can feel we have lived our life well, and helped others to do the same.

If you need help with any detail on enjoying or living your life to the fullest, along with the people in it, please let me know.  I can help you.

Thank you for reading.

Sharon