I tend to have grandiose plans each season. I am this odd creature that craves change and movement in my life so instead of the idea of a fresh start each year I'm more of an every season kind of girl. That being said, this summer the plan was to "BE PRESENT". Simple stuff, right? Not so much really.
Since my whole Holy Yoga endeavor began I have improved light years in this area but there were still improvements that needed to be made. My game plan was to remove social media for a month, yet ended up being removing Facebook for a month (I dabbled with Insta for a couple of weeks but the addiction there isn't as strong). Facebook, that thing that seemed so great when I started so many years ago, that has grown to this MONSTER that sucks my soul from its shell. Okay, that may be a little dramatic but for a bleeding heart empathizer like me seeing certain things literally makes me sick, yet I would continue to read, hateful, hurtful things. Or many things that are sort of boring but apparently my life is boring because I still allowed my time to be taking by such mindless activity. Moving on. Being present. What the heck are you talking about Nicole? I'm talking about being in the moment. Acknowledging every experience, no matter how small, as important. So here are a few of my discoveries. I limited them to 5 but I could write for a looong time about this topic.
1. I LOVE naps! My goal is to take one every day, nope I'm not ashamed of that. I recommend them too. I think they should be required throughout school and on every job. Put your phone in the other room, turn off the television, walk away from the computer and try it. I vote we all take a nap every single day!!!
2. Food is best when you are excited about eating it, savoring every bite. Great food is not what led to American obesity, mindless eating did. Preaching to self.
3. Italian women are incredibly fit. Part of my month was spent in Europe. It is uncanny how fit these women are, yet I never saw a single gym and not more than one yoga studio. They drink cappuccino and wine everyday and eat pasta and gelato. I don't know what the deal is, perhaps their genes are better but I would like to just try living in Italy to test that theory, haha. My guess is that it is because of #2, they really are more present in the experience of dining. Must adopt this.
4. Making love should be a part of every day!!! Did your eyes just get wide? Sorry. I'm not even really talking about having sex. I'm saying BE PRESENT for your partner. Learn what hurts them and what heals them, everyone is different. If you care you will learn their individual love language and speak it to them. I am a little obsessed with the idea of loving others in a radical way but if I can't be present for my husband why on earth would I try to be for anyone else. He is the first person that needs to know how deep my love is for him!
5. Last and most importantly....for those of you that think these things are less than spiritual and thought I was into Jesus and God and all, here's the thing. It's all spiritual! Every single thing. The naps. The eating. The traveling. The loving. Especially the loving. I remember making priority lists when I was younger, always making sure God was at the top and feeling constantly guilty because I never "did enough" to prove that. I figured out He isn't at the top because my list isn't a list it's a life and He is the center, radiating into every aspect of me. He is in everything that I do and every part of my being. Changes things a bit. Makes being present in His presence the meaning of my existence and is much less of a load than striving to "be" I just "am" HIS:)
So there you have my grand synopsis of summer, or at least July. So this makes me want to stay away from Facebook but I'm not, jumped back on today, but hopefully my experience will be different. If I can be intentional about being present, I can be intentional about limiting the time I allow something a silly as FB to steal. I hope you are having a fun and relaxing summer. I also hope if something within you resonates with my words you let me know. Maybe you want to unplug for a bit. It really does the body (and mind and spirit) good.