Sometimes “life” has to give you a swift kick in the gut to get you to pay attention. I got that yesterday. It was such a hard slam that I almost couldn’t think. I certainly couldn’t talk. It happened early in the day. Afterwards, I walked to my car and drove straight home. The tears were so thick that I was surprised I could drive. I walked in the house, stripped out of my dress clothes, dropped them in the kitchen (kids were gone), walked into my bedroom and laid down.
I took a deep breath.
Have you ever had that happen to you? Something so powerful that you have to stop and really focus on the message? It really doesn’t matter “what” happened. What matters is, “it” happened.
Here’s what I didn’t do: I didn’t revert into my negative thinking. I didn’t pick up the phone and make a call that I really shouldn’t make. I didn’t fall asleep. I didn’t talk.
Here’s what I did do: I stopped crying. I got up and got dressed in my favorite shorts and t-shirt. I put on my flip-flops and walked outside – without my phone. I walked. I walked and walked and walked. I reminded myself that this is an opportunity. An opportunity to look at my life and make some serious changes. An opportunity to get a new perspective.
Here’s what else I did: I asked myself, “Have you been taking care of you?”
The answer I heard? “No. Not one bit.”
It’s odd that “this” happened now, because I think in a recent blog post (I don’t go back and read them) I talked about taking a tough situation and making the best of it. And here I was, in the throes of just that.
In the last few months, I’d forgotten my “space.” That quiet place in me – where I go to recharge. It’s not my cave (although I do LOVE my cave). It’s that place of slowing down. Of (metaphorically) driving slowly and checking out the scenery.
Look, we all live this way. It’s a fast paced world and we’re all moving quickly. Sometimes with our eyes closed. We are electronically connected for a million reasons. But do we ever unplug? Do we have our breakfast sitting down, reading the paper and not doing 10 other things? Lately, I haven’t been and I’m going to start.
Maybe this reminder/lesson was for me and maybe it was also to share with you.
Please take the time for you. Even if for a day or an hour. Even like the 15 minutes I laid quietly on my bed with my eyes closed but very wide awake. Find that place for you. Where you can breathe deeply and connect with your soul. Take care of it. It’s the only thing that will hang with you until the day you go.
Have a very, very peaceful day! XO
p.s. I’m ok. Just wide awake now. 🙂
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