mind·ful·ness
- 1.the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something:"their mindfulness of the wider cinematic tradition"
- 2.a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.
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| I see Me - Mixed media Art Journal Page - Amanda Trought |
It is funny how the simple small things we do can get us taking action, and I had reached what felt like a slump - I knew what I wanted to do, but couldn't seem to move myself into taking action. The feeling seem to linger and no matter what I tried nothing seem to work long term.
It only takes a slice of cake
After eating a slice of fruit cake one evening, I was met with the usual feelings of aching joints and lethargy which quickly followed by irritated skin. I vowed not to eat anymore cake, I was done! I thought of the pain I was feeling and I didn't want to feel it anymore, I wanted to finally take my decisions and life into my own hands. My family looked at me with amusement as they had heard it all before, they said they would believe it when the see it, but this felt different. I went further and told my son that if he were to see me eating cake he should rip it out of my hands, and then after thinking about how messy it would be I offered to pay him. My husband decided that he wanted to get in on what he saw as free money and they both rubbed their hands with glee mentally calculating how much they would make off me as I succumbed to the cake.
I listened to their voices telling me that I couldn't do it and made a decision that I was going to do it, this time would be different!
Making the decision
They laughed and joked about it, but the way I was feeling I felt for sure that I would stick to it. The more and more I thought about it I felt if I could give up cake then there were other habits that I wanted to address, it was more than just about the cake, and I was up for this challenge!
After thinking about it for a while I realized that by paying them I was putting the responsibility of not eating cake onto them catching me. Rather than punish myself for doing wrong I needed to celebrate looking after my body and getting on with the things I wanted to do. I reasoned that if I really wanted to give up cake then I could, equally whatever other changes that I wanted to make I could put these in place as well. It all had to do with a mindset change that I needed to just go for it!
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| Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage - Anais Nin |
Flipping the switch
A switch flipped and I immediately felt different about how I wanted to treat myself. If I could change my mind about eating things that were physically affecting me then what else could I do. I decided that I needed to really look after 'me' rather than just talking about it, but I also had to support myself by gaining wisdom from others who had achieved their goals, and also create a little cheer leading team for myself.
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| Wisdom is like the baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it ... |
When you are not feeling yourself other things are impacted as well, my creativity suffered the ideas that I would normally work on in my studio couldn't find me as I was dulled by inactivity and I really didn't feel like getting on with the very things that made me feel good or needed to get done.
As I thought of all these things I knew that change and taking care of myself meant that I needed to really see who I was, wanted to be, do, and all the rest of it.
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| I SEE ME - Mixed media art |
- Daily morning walks
- Getting to bed by 11.30pm - or as close to
- Daily reading 15 mins minimum
- Improve Diet -Wheat and dairy free diet, lots of fruit and veg and whole foods, no processed foods
- Daily Art & Journal writing
- Listening to motivational and inspiring daily recordings
- Daily family time
- End of day review and scheduling work and goals
All of these things on the list are to get me kick started to change, and to achieve the things that I have been saying I don't have time for, and get me back to the me that I wanted. When I focus on these things I am reminding myself that I do matter, that showing up for myself reaffirms my own value.
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| Problems are only opportunities with thorns on them - Hugh Miller |
Making a Commitment
When I am feeling tired I remind myself that I made a commitment and that seems to propel me into action, I get my walking gear and within minutes I am out the door. I have been constantly reminding myself that each action is about showing up for me, and the time is much better spent. Even reading and committing to doing some reading every day means all the books that I have promising to read I can make time for them now because they are part of my schedule.
Every day that passes I am being shown new insights and ideas and I am learning to value the time that I do have and make the most of the things that I want to do, and celebrating my achievements! We are all given the same amount of time it depends how we use it, and the value that we place on on our lives. There is no replay button or do over, so we need to be getting on with these things today!
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| Walking in your blessings..... |
I would love to hear about any changes that you have decided to make in your day to day activities,
What is it that you have always wanted to do but convinced yourself that you don't have time?
What ways are you going to nurture yourself today?
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