Pressing Life's Pause Button

Pressing Life's Pause Button - 

before it gets pressed for you!

Life has a way of getting you to stop, despite not wanting to, and what you do with it is entirely up to you.  You can take the wisdom that whispers ever so silently in your ear to slow down, take stock and recalculate, or you can choose to ignore it entirely and as you stir that morning you find that you are in excruciating pain, and those parts that use to move smoothly are holding you to ransom.

I think my whispers began when I broke my little toe.  A very small appendage you might think but it still has oh so many nerve endings that throbbed in unison as if they were all doing the 'Candy/electric slide' turn right about there, as I climbed over a small makeshift barrier to stop the dog from entering the spare room - the very one that you can see peaking at the top of the picture below!

The whisper told me get organised, I chose to carry on with my very own routine that now included a dog called Cole and I would just get on with things.  My little toe caught in the makeshift barrier without me seeing the secret rendezvous for one and before i knew it the job had been done.  One broken toe throbbed, swelled and I soldiered on as you do.  The question asked so many times - are you sure its broken?  I did 'that look' with my eyes saying through gritted teeth that I was the broken toe expert thank you very much!

Ignoring the signs

To add insult to injury our new puppy decided that my toe was the launch pad to every thing fun, he would sit, stand, jump gnaw at the poor toe that did no wrong.  For some reason I still chose not to listen and ran about as normal.

A friend visited from the UK and I spoke to them about that feeling of wanting to pause things but felt like I was on a roller coaster to try and get the things that I wanted to get done organised.  Now with the UK visit looming I tried to sort out as many things as possible, realizing that the main important things are the ones to focus on, and then I came away on the flight.

April always brings about the Ultimate Blog challenge which I am a part of and you have to create a blog post every day on a specific or a range of topics, so why not add another thing to the list of things to do.  I chose to share about things to do on a budget in the UK, I was on a budget so it would be a great way to be able to share some of my findings, especially going to all the cool Art Galleries and events that I had found, but I was about to get a wake up call.

Braving the cold weather

I heard the whispers again but assumed it was the cold weather, the breeze hitting my hat and skimming my ears, but no, I wrapped up warm but it mattered not what I had on I was still chilled to the bone as if I had been in the deep freeze waiting to thaw out.  I would get these looks as I went about my day - these people really didn't know that despite being in Barbados I still got cold so I ignored the looks as I tried to get on with things.

It began to dawn on me that as much as I wanted to do my body was telling me something else, I started to get a sore throat, and then started to sneeze, and I put it down to mum who had a cold, but it would be something that I could shake.  What is with noses running like rivers, I would be sitting there talking to my friend and before you know it the banks burst and holding my head back at a particular angle had to fight to get the tissues out of my bag while it tumbled it's way to my top lip - is it just me?.

How many times do you need to be told

I continued to brave the cold the following day with a list of things that I wanted to do before I was hit.

Why is it that we ignore the warning signs trying to pretend that we can put on our super hero costume and dodge all the signs cause they are not really for me.

The Pause Button was pressed without me being able to and all I was able to do is wrap up, drink my herbal remedies and sleep.  

Honey, Lemon and Ginger the essentials - the garlic is around the corner

The sun shone through the windows tempting me to venture out and I must admit that I went to feel the rays against my sink reminded me of the conversation about putting things on pause so that I could catch my breath and I have been resting, reading, catching up and nurturing my body, I have to remind myself of on a regular basis to ensure that I had more balance in my life, which is not something we should scoff at, but take it seriously before you are forced to take the time.  

I have taken a pause - As I type this I have my feet up wrapped in a blanket. Take a moment to think about the following questions and the changes that you need to make. 

• What is it that you need to do and NOW that you have been putting off?
• What do you need more of in your life?
• What pain have you been putting up with that you need to have checked out.

While you are at it, check out some of the Resources and Discounts that you could be making use of. 

Being More Mindful - You can make a change

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.

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!

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. 

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.

I SEE ME - Mixed media art

So my mindful acts are a way of getting to know myself, what I want to do, spend time doing the things that nurture and encourage, and included the following:

• 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.

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!

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?