Be The Calm In The Storm
Whether you’re a Christmas fan, a total believer, or Christmas doesn’t even fall under your religion, there’s no denying that at this beautiful time of year, there’s a different vibe in the air.
Well, there’s many.
For some, Christmas (or the season of the new year) brings loving, excited memories of being a kid and spending your holidays with close family and friends eating, drinking, playing and laughing. For some, it brings back sad memories, of the people we miss who aren’t with us any more at a time of year we generally reflect on life. And for others, Christmas is to be totally, utterly avoided. Maybe its’ just an awkward time of year that polarises a feeling of loneliness, or regret around family, and sometimes brings annual gatherings that aren’t so fun - to say the least.
Wherever you happen to fall on the spectrum of the New Year, I have no doubt you’re feeling what I’m talking about. Positive or not, there’s a hustle in the air. A sense of pressure we feel to stay up to date, consume, catch-up, close-off, get somewhere, say what you need to say, and rush.
I’m here to remind you, you have a choice. Every single day - about how you show up. And what you choose to take part in.
Love, or Fear. Present, or not.
This post could really have been titled “How to enjoy every moment of your life”… not just Christmas.
Because the answer to both, is to get present. To come back to the here and now. This moment.
In this moment, you’re reading my words. That’s it. If you’re fully in this moment, there’s no judgement, no thought. You’re simply having an experience.
It’s not only our inability to be in the present moment that makes us overwhelmed, it’s our judgement of situations we are present within - our wishing they were something different instead of fully allowing them to be what they are - that causes suffering.
And nobody is here to suffer.
Take a deeeeeep breath, and fully feel your breath. Feel your butt in your chair. Or your feet on the ground. Take a moment to listen to all the sounds around you, while you breathe.
Let them become the rhythm of your day.
From this space, you may feel a natural desire to do something smart, or helpful, that will change the situation you are in - or work towards it. You may feel like taking another deep breath - because it feels so good. Or, you may just feel a little more calm, and peaceful, regardless of the chaos happening around you.
This is a practise. Which means, you have to practise it. Moment to moment to moment.
Take another deep breath. Everything happening to you, around you, and for you right now, is completely OK. Good, and bad - they are judgements. It simply is what it is. When we can fully embrace where we are, without judging, we free ourselves from the tyranny and illusion of suffering, and being stuck.
Maybe you feel like taking some positive action right now.
You’ve got this.
Wishing you a beautiful life, here on in.
Stay Curious, Stay open. The life you crave is so much closer than you think.
