Tag: life

Your daily thought, point to ponder and soulful reflection.

Daily thought: There are a lot of friendly, helpful and decent people in this world. We seem to lose sight of that when we isolate at home or, spend most of our time listening to the media and following drama filled social posts.

Point to ponder: COVID forced many, or most of us, to stay home for an unforeseen length of time. When life started returning to the pre-pandemic way, some of us found a new normal that we aren’t so interested in letting go of. But when we do get out and interact, we are reminded how healthy and good it is to encounter people – the friendly, helpful and decent ones.

Soulful reflection: (Disclaimer: This probably only applies to my fellow introverts).

My pre-pandemic schedule was crazy. It was non-stop between work, socializing and activities. I rarely kept food in the fridge, didn’t have one plant nor could I have imagined wanting it any other way. Funny thing is, it took COVID to make me realize that wasn’t the life I wanted – or, needed. But I had no idea at that time.

Today, my life is back to the steady rhythm of busy, yet drums to a different beat. My life is full of what I once referred to as my soul work – writing, baking, creating, volunteering – but void of excess running around and what I’ve found to be superficial socialization.

I was the queen of delivery, everything right down to groceries. I now find myself getting back out, doing the errands and participating again in some day to day activities. Funny, I unknowingly missed this. It was a reminder that there are kind and happy people we encounter (jerks, too, as always, because a lot of them exist); a reminder that there is a whole world outside my door that it seems I’d kind of forgotten about. As an introverted extrovert, it can be easy to fall into my solitary ways.

But a trip to Market Basket, the drugstore and other places – something I’d always enjoyed – can be enjoyable and uplifting. A bit of idle chit chat and some shared smiles can shift one’s perspective and brighten the day, even if you think it won’t. There’s a lot of good out there surrounding us in these tumultuous times. Get out and see for yourself.

Talking about the hard stuff.

There are subjects that many people, if not most, don’t want to talk about. They don’t even want to think about them, never mind discuss them.

It seems to be more common than not to avoid topics that evoke fear, worry or stress. We want to avoid things that cause us angst or pain, tucking it away in our minds and hoping that it miraculously figures itself out without our participation.

Continue reading “Talking about the hard stuff.”

How was your month?

June is quickly coming to a close and we will embark on a new month in less than 48 hours.

As time passes, be sure to make the time to reflect upon life. What is going well for you, and what isn’t? How can you improve upon something, or do you need to change direction completely? What have you learned, and what do you want to learn? How have you contributed to making someone’s life better, or how did you hurt them?

Living authentically is a conscious decision. It is something that must be acted upon each day through mindfulness and reflection. Don’t wait to until something goes wrong to check-in with yourself – do it daily, and often.

When you find yourself going through the  motions of life, simply flipping pages on a calendar or scrolling the dates on your phone, stop. Take a moment to slow down, breathe and engage in that moment. In the words of John Lennon, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” Don’t be so busy that it passes you by.

As you prepare to bid farewell to June and kick-off July, take a few minutes to think back on these past days.

How was your month?