I’m sitting at my desk, eyes dropping out of my head, and I’m wondering how the hell I’m going to get ‘everything’ done. Between businesses, kids and running a household, my to-do list is longer than my legs. Literally.
As overwhelm takes hold, my mind takes refuge in a familiar fantasy. That’s it! It’s time to sell everything we own and go live in a bush shack in Yallingup.
Then I float the idea past my husband and he just looks and me and laughs like he always does; “You’d last three days down there Kel. You don’t have it in you to do nothing.”
Dammit, he’s right.
Stupid husbands and their penchant for common sense.
That familiar (mental) retreat to the bush shack in Yallingup still serves a purpose however. For years it’s been a sure-fire sign that I am either overly tired, overly stressed, or both.
The good news is, these days, I don’t usually get stressed.
Tired – oh gosh yes, I have two young children.
But stressed? Not really.
And it’s this lack of stress despite All. The. Things. going on that lets me know I’m living a life less frantic.
That confirms for me I’m managing to embrace the busy by living intentionally.
Embrace the busy by living intentionally? What does that even mean?
It means I know what the big picture is.
I know where I want to be in three years’ time and in five years’ time.
And everything I’m doing right now, everything that’s keeping me busy is an intentional choice taking me closer to where I want to be.
So what else do I do to ensure I’m living in an intentional way? How else do I keep stress at bay?
Well each day I take the time to touch base with:
MY MIND
I read a lot. I’m constantly learning because the more I learn, the more my mind opens. And the more my mind opens, the better I can understand the world and the people in it. And the better I understand the world, the less it can rock my boat.
MY BODY
I move my body and do my best to eat well. I believe a 15 minute run is better than no run; that a 10 minute amble to school with my son beats sitting in the car for a two minute drive. I believe eating well five days out of seven, or two meals out of three is better than having no care at all for what I put in my mouth.
MY HEART
I am grateful for all the love I have in my life and do my best to never take it for granted. This is harder than it sounds because the more someone loves you, the easier it is to take them for granted!
MY SOUL
This is pretty woo woo and I don’t usually do woo woo, but each day I take a moment to just stop and connect with myself. Usually it’s when I’m in bed just about to fall asleep. I breathe in and out very slowly and remind myself that it’s hard to be a person, but as far as being a person goes, I’m doing the best I can … and that’s all I can ask of myself.
And that’s it really!
It’s hard to be stressed when you’re living a life of your own making and when you ensure you’re taking time to find a moment of peace in each day.
And it’s so much easier to roll with the ebbs and flows of life when stress is taken out of the picture don’t you find?