Tag: Steps

Follow Your Own Path

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I have been thinking lately about following your path by only accepting into our lives that which resonates. Honoring ourselves by focusing our energy on experiences that feel like joy, happiness, peace, and love helps us to follow our path. There are some simple steps that we can take to amplify these experiences in our lives.

Listening to the Universe + Your Inner Voice

I start by paying attention to the messages the universe is sending me. If you’re having trouble hearing what the universe has to say, try subtracting distractions until something clicks. A guided meditation or breathing exercise can be enough to free your attention to hear your own thoughts. 

Take One Small Step

My next move is to just take one tiny step forward. Maybe it’s folding a blanket or getting dressed, painting something small or just writing out a few words. Just try whatever feels right or you are inspired to do that gets your momentum moving. You’ve listened to the universe, heard what it’s saying, and now you’ve acted on it. These are small but powerful movements towards our own happiness.

Do the Next Right Thing

After that momentum is initiated just do whatever feels right next. I don’t have a formula or strategy beyond that. Of course, the next right thing may be to create a five year plan but it’s also just as likely the next right thing is to clear out your inbox, each of those options is valid and necessary. 

Basically, what matters is that you’re moving toward your own path and inspiration. Our job is not to do everything at once, or to race someone else to the finish line. You are allowed to take your time. When your moment arrives you will be ready. Choosing what resonates with us makes sure we are only welcoming experiences, people and situations that serve us on our journey. While it sounds simple to follow your path is the most challenging and fulfilling work we do in life. We all bloom at the exact right time for us.

Gentle Self-Care Routines for Getting Out of a Funk

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Every so often I get out of my routine and find myself in a funk. It happens when I get sick, or overwhelmed, and tired. It helps to remember that this happens to everyone. We go on vacation, get involved in a work or personal projects that take us off schedule, and it’s only when we find ourselves suddenly not feeling so great that we realize, we’re off our game. Next time you feel down for not taking care of yourself, instead of beating yourself up or making yourself feel worse, I hope you remember that this happens to all of us and we can always reset. We don’t have to wallow or punish ourselves we can simply take the steps we know work for us. 

I’ve pulled together a list of the things I do that help me get out of a funk and feel better. They are simple steps that shift my perspective. They help me to move towards love and care for myself instead of punishment – which never works. Have you ever punished a child and then had them feel pleased? Of course not, they’re hurt and tired and likely crying. If we truly want to change our behavior patterns we need to give more love, not less.

Hydrate

Sleep

Eat well

  • Fresh fruits, vegetables, and nourishing meals that comfort can change the way your body feels and functions. 

Moisturize

Stretch

Meditate – To learn more about how, I wrote a blog on starting your meditation practice.

Travel – or try a new restaurant, even a small shift can be exciting!

Read – for fun or information but I prefer an actual book. My phone screen can be draining.

Call a friend – Studies show that people with strong social ties have a 50% lower risk of dying.

Relax – Take frequent breaks 

Create – Sing, dance, draw for fun. Whatever you like to do make a little time in your day for it!

Laugh – Monty Python does it for me but find an old standby and let yourself laugh!

Give back 

  • It never hurts to help someone else, I often find it feels good to remember how much I have to share.

I hope the list above serves you. What other practices do you use to get yourself out of a funk?

New Year, New Approach to Progress

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It’s halfway through January and I am already sensing a transition or shift in this new year. Time is moving as quickly as it ever has but I am not rushing with it. I have noticed that I am taking smaller, more practical steps toward my own goals and progress. I am also celebrating where I am and feeling contented, rather than displeased or eager for the next step. I am where I am supposed to be in this moment and I am grateful that where I am is so wonderful and that I have the good fortune to be here, breathing air and living life, to enjoy it. 

Let’s begin with the practical steps, as those of you who have been following know and for those of you who have not, we moved last summer. After nine years in our starter home it was time for more elbow room. Covid helped us along in this decision, but it was getting to be time. That said we have a new home and since we do not live on HGTV, the progress from new home to our home is a slow and steady process. We believe in living in a home for a while to determine what we like, don’t like, and how we are going to make the space more our own. We also do not have a limitless budget and so our choices are practical and timed out – we have not simply gutted the place. 

We have however made some small but deliberate changes and updates. I’m really noticing that this year, unlike years past that I am being more patient with progress. I am enjoying the process more and being more intentional with my choices. I know what I like and I know what works for us. I also know that Rome was not built in a day. As I consider these truisms I’m grateful. I’m grateful that instead of feeling like I have not done anything or beating myself up because my progress has been slow I am savoring the moment. 

Growth and change are never easy. The shift from one home to another is a big one and all of the solutions we hoped for in this home will not simply appear overnight. As we learn more about how we live in this space and we recognize our own needs in this house I am taking practical steps. 

We have larger visions and dreams – much like I have larger visions and dreams for this year as a whole – but instead of looking at my larger picture goals and thinking, “Whelp, I haven’t accomplished them yet, I might as well quit, or pick a new goal.” Instead, I am thinking, “How can I make these goals smaller?” I don’t eat an entire candy bar in one bite, I break it into pieces (because I’m a lady). Also, because it is impractical to do so, and a mess. So rather than penalizing myself for not stuffing everything I want to do into the first three weeks of a new year, I am congratulating myself for taking smaller bites. For not feeling as if I have failed because in such a short time my large goals are incomplete. 

Yearly goals, are just that, goals for the entire year. If they were easy enough to be solved within a week, they would not be on my annual list. They would be on my much shorter daily agenda. That said, I can make progress. Ina Garten recommends two steps every week to accomplish a goal and I have found that wisdom to be timeless and useful. I may not get something new completed in our new house every day – I’m still trying to remember where I put away the cleaning rags thank you very much. But I can order new light fixtures for the front hall. I can organize my Pinterest page and whittle down my options for rugs. These are not the re-design of the entire house but with these small steps I can make progress toward that goal. It will not be done in a day but with a couple steps forward every week, by the end of the year that’s 104 steps further than I was on new years, and already 52 steps ahead of when we moved in last summer. I’m already ahead and with continued progress this house will be a totally different place when we’re done with it – it will be our place and that makes it home. 

How do you stay motivated to accomplish larger tasks? What keeps you moving forward rather than giving up?