Now, Then, Later

Ask yourself this:  What is it that I’m trying to do?

There are so many facets to our lives, each clamoring for the lion’s share of our attention.   While working on one task our minds are already surging ahead to the next job.  While painting the bedroom we are thinking about what color we should paint the hallway.  At work, one project is barely begun before you begin prepping for the next.  Breakfast dishes are hardly cleared before thoughts of what to have for lunch appear.

Let’s alter the original question a bit:  What is it that I’m trying to do NOW?   I am trying to get this room painted.  So paint!  It’s okay to buy the hall paint while you’re in Home Depot, but while you are painting the bedroom, paint the bedroom.  Pay attention to the bedroom.  Do a good job.  Listen to music. Enjoy yourself.

Don’t let your body complete one task while your mind is two hours/days/weeks ahead performing the next task.  Pull yourself together! Don’t lose today in thinking about tomorrow.

What am I trying to do now?  I’m trying to live my life with awareness.  I’m trying to do what I love with enthusiasm and do unpleasant tasks with grace.  I’m trying to take care of today.  Some days it works, some days I’m still working on it!  What are you trying to do now?

Standing on One Foot

It’s all about Balance.   When one foot is off the ground, you don’t want to tip over.  In my yoga classes I advise my students to practice balancing in all sorts of funny places.  Stand on one foot when waiting in line at the grocery store.  Challenge yourself by putting your socks on without sitting down. Revisit childhood by walking on top of the cement things in parking lots.  Improvement comes quickly, and it’s actually kind of fun!

Let’s pull that idea into the rest of our lives.  For instance, I just had a piece of leftover birthday cake for breakfast. (A sliver, really!)  I am now standing on one foot, nutritionally.  So for the rest of the day, I will practice my balance, eating wholesome foods. I’ll still be upright by dinnertime!

And exercise -- an extended four-letter word for many of us.  Step one is to get some.  Step two is to balance it with your own lifestyle, and for the highest good of the ol’ bod.  My preferred exercise is yoga, so balance for me is adding a brisk walk with the dog every afternoon, giving my body the sensation of fast, repetitive movement.  If you are a runner, taking off for miles around town, the addition of a stretchy yoga class will reacquaint you with muscles you forgot you had, balancing your quickness with the awareness of smaller, slower movements.

Finally, look for a balance of information.  Find a way to be aware of what is going on in the world around you without being inundated with negativity.  Look for news media that doesn’t exaggerate the bad and downplay the good; learn to change the subject when conversations turn to gossip; limit your exposure to people or things that drag your spirits down.

Look into all aspects of your life and find balance.  Then, when events come that start to tip you over, you will have the resources to recover from the wobble.  Maybe your hand will touch the wall for a moment; and once in a while life will knock us over completely.  If we have made Balance an automatic response system in our bodies and minds, we will find ourselves upright in the end.

Never Mind When I'm 65, How About When I'm 100

Don’t laugh, but I plan to live to be 100.  And not the sitting in the rocker waiting for a card from the President 100, but a yoga-practicing, blog-writing, trail-walking 100.  In order for this to happen, I first have to successfully deal with being in my fifties.  Here’s what I’ve found so far:

I take Level 2 yoga classes with relative ease, except I need reading glasses to sign the release form.  I can be pleasantly surprised when I look in the mirror, as long as I’ve been using my heavy-duty nighttime moisturizer, and avoid glancing down at my neck.  I thoroughly enjoy my kale and white bean soup now that I don’t have to cajole a 4-year-old into trying it. 

There is nowhere near as much time in the day as I thought there’d be.  I don’t work “full-time” but I work “crazy-time”, so my days are a chopped-up mish-mash of hours.  Keeping my schedule straight is what I do instead of crossword puzzles to keep my brain alert. 

Instead of hanging out with the parents of my kids’ friends, I now hang out with the people I do yoga with.  Luckily for me, that includes my mom and sisters, so I get to see them regularly.

I am WAY less shy than I used to be, and can easily strike up a conversation with just about anyone.  And I’m always willing to try something new because my fear of appearing foolish has vanished along with my smooth hands. 

What is your favorite part about your age decade?