Do you remember back to when you were a child, and you would become so involved in everything around you? You would notice everything, experience everything, learning everything. And then your imagination would take over, you would creatively add to the experience you were living?
It is sad, but most of us lose this as we get older. Responsibilities and bills, schedules and pay dates, the constant cycle of “adulting”. I want you to try to, just for one hour, experience everything around you, and allow yourself to think and wonder, question and learn. Take yourself back to age 7 or 8, when everything around you was new. I want you to describe how you feel, your skin, your mind. Exhilarated? That exhilaration is the instant reward you receive, when you live and think in the present.
The mechanism that causes us as children to experience everything in this way is fundamental to our growth. Life is about progression and growth, and that doesn’t stop at 20, 30, 40 or even 80, unless we allow it to. When in the proper mindset, we question, without prejudice. We ask the right questions. Learned behaviors are just that…learned, and we can set them aside. Ultimately you will be able to simplify your life in such a way that anxiety and depression will no longer exist for you. You will no longer be in a slump. You’ll be able to move your life in any direction you want, and at will.
This really is step one to creating the life that you want, and are meant to be living…the way you are meant to live it.
I challenge every reader to try these things, even for a day, and document the way you feel at the end. Better yet, try them everyday, but start over every day. 🙂 Because it truly is about living in the present.
- Grounding. Ground yourself. Take your shoes and socks off and really feel the ground beneath you. Describe out loud what you feel under your feet. Describe the air on air on your face. Describe what you see in front of you, the details, the color, reach out and touch it. Calm your mind. Listen to the air flow of your air conditioner or heater, concentrate on it until you don’t have any thoughts in your head, only the sound. You are safe, you are here, and you are in the now.
- Identify. Thought label. Don’t allow yourself to think about something from your past. If a thought comes across your mind, ask yourself, is it about today? Does it affect today? If the answer is no… bless it and release it. Bring yourself back to the now.
- Wonder. Allow the questions to go through your head about things you see and feel. Allow yourself to be curious
- Be grateful. Start your day with listing 10 things you are grateful for, before your feet hit the ground right out of bed.
- Do something impulsive for you. Once a day, treat yourself. I want you to feel that the only difference from now and when you were a child, is that the only person you have to ask permission of, is yourself. 😉
If you need help with any of these concepts, or if you love the change this creates and want to know what’s next, I’m always available to help you. Blessings!
