Mind. Full.
I have been doing some self check-ins this week. Survey says? Well-being is definitely off. In the five dimensions of wellbeing - Career, Social, Financial, Physical, and Community - I would guess I am not alone in feeling like some of these areas have been depleted and flipped upside down while others are stuffed so full of demands for attention that there don’t seem to be enough hours in the day.
Taking time to sit with myself and process life as we currently know it, the truth is that many days, I am actively disengaging from the present moment, trying to “make it through” whatever comes at me next while multiple thoughts or worries compete for my attention. Maybe this resonates with you as well.
While playing with my kids: “I should use this time to unload the dishwasher. Ugh, the countertops are cluttered AGAIN. Why is there always laundry?”
While diving into a work project: “”Did I email that coach back?... Better check my work, personal and business emails again…. We forgot to get that information to our financial planner by the deadline...”
Sitting on the couch with my husband after the whirlwind kid bedtime routine: “Hey! A moment where I’m not being pulled...What’s on Instagram? scroll... What’s on Facebook? scroll... What’s on Twitter? #disconnected.”
When my daughter wants me to paint with her: “I will in a little bit...Mom needs to send back some messages to people…”
While eating: “Write out a hopeful things-to-do list so I can feel productive.”
Mind. Full.
After getting my son down for a nap this morning, and knowing the sliver of quiet would expire in about an hour, I finally sat down to do a meditation exercise. I can’t count the number of times my mind zoomed like a pinball to a thought from the past or a task to do for the future. But observing the mind wandering, detaching and releasing the judgment of these wandering thoughts is itself the point of meditation practice. What matters is being able to recognize when something pulls you away from your center, let it be what it is, and get back to this moment, this breath.
Mindful.
So, I am setting two intentions that are interconnected:
1. Reserve time for a daily meditation exercise.
2. Exercise the components of meditation throughout the moments of my day when the mind wanders away from the present.
Much is going on, and much is being asked of us. There is calm within the commotion. Let’s take time, little by little, to ground down to it. Practice, not perfect.
