Simply Enough

Did you know the key to happiness is living in alignment with your priorities and values? When we don't make choices aligned with our chosen, self-professed priorities and values, that's how we create discord and unhealthy dis-ease internally.  And externally, intent and impact are both important yet aren't always the same, and can cause confusion at best, or harm at its worst. Being mindful of how we spend our time and how we spend our mind matter. Having clarity and knowing our priorities helps filter distracting noise around attaining goals, to live mindfully aligned with our values.

Are you always insistent on The Best, and nothing less will do? How does that serve you, and is it even healthy? Sometimes, you can use your time better than constantly searching for Best or Perfect.  It's amazing what we miss out on, when we worry about what we're missing.  In search of the Best, you can miss right where you are and miss experiencing what you have now. 

In pursuit of some ambiguous "better", it's hard to enjoy and savor what's in front of you, too busy measuring up rather than simply experiencing. Critiquing something so much can even destroy the value of it, and self-prophesy disappointment. Instead, we can adopt the mindset of seeing what was gained rather than what fell short. The goalposts of Best often keep moving, so we might as well make room for Good Enough, and even change the definition and parameters of "enoughness", to find joy in life as is.

How do you approach the new year? What's your mindset and which emotions dominate? A new start doesn't have to only be every 365 days! Like a student in school, you can break up the year into quarters, seasons, or monthly rotations. Or even approach each individual new day as a fresh start. Life doesn't have to be merely routinized and habitual. And remember too- new year's resolutions and goals don't just have to be about physical health. Prioritize emotional, mental and spiritual health as well. You can shed the weight of other people's opinions, and even shed the weight of self-sabotage and self-limiting beliefs. New beginnings and fresh starts, whenever you choose them to be, can be opportunities to rest and take a break, or uplevel, reinvent and rediscover yourself!

Do you set resolutions for the new year, but soon abandon them? Consider being objective-driven rather than goal-oriented, to set yourself in the right direction.  An objective is about limitless opportunity and possibility, whereas a goal is finite and concrete, as if a zero-sum game. An objective is a beacon beyond you that is calling you, and goals are the microscopic steps aiming forward. Missteps in the direction of an objective doesn’t mean halting or abandoning the journey. Celebrate the successes along the way and encourage the developing identity in the direction of transformation, resolving not just what you do, but more so who you want to be, and how you want to show up in the world. 

What do you believe? What is a miracle and magic to you? To explain it is unnecessary. If we can suspend our disbelief and put away the need to be cynical or right, magic and miracles can happen. We can be witness to them,and also be agents of them. t’s not always the grandiose and the magnificent - They are everyday happenings, around us and in us. Miracles can be in the ability to find the Divine in humanity and the Divine within ourselves. Don’t miss the message of the miracle. Sit with awe and wonder; right where you are. You are enough, because you are a miracle, just as you are.  Period. 

Have you ever felt like you were on a different wavelength from everybody else? That’s okay! Get in tune with what resonates with you.  Connect with what moves your spirit and stirs your passion! Recognize it’s not about performance or judgment, and allow that others may be attuned to different things. Let your soul reverberate and resound at the highest frequency and ring true with your best, most authentic self!

Have you ever felt pressure to give the Perfect Gift? Or thought a gift you received was lacking? But there are Gifts in everything, all around us.  The value of a gift is not about “the thing” It’s about the thought and intent from the giver.  The price paid for a gift isn’t always monetary, but instead could  be time, talent or sincere thought.   From baguettes to body wash, it’s not the physical gift but the intangible sentiment that is of priceless value.  Rather than being caught up in the checklist of gift giving, look away from the object and instead see the connection between the giver and receiver as the gift that keeps on giving.

How do the holidays make you feel? Do you aim for a Hallmark romanticized tableau, or embrace the messy, funny imperfections? A change of expectations and perspective can change the experience, embracing not just the nostalgia, but the creation of new memories too!  The holidays come from your Light within, rather than external. Let go of activities on an idealized to-do list, to experience and extend the simple, distilled  reasons for the season— peace, love, joy, faith and hope, really and actually.

Have you ever felt the pressure, or the letdown, from wanting the holidays to be perfect? But the holidays can come alive more as feelings in one’s heart, rather than outer events.   Build upon the foundation of sentiments that make a holiday real.  The universal language of gratitude is contagious and life giving! Rather than one day on the calendar, live a life of Thanks-living, thinking of specific things from boogers to moo-cows, and the family you were given and the family you’ve chosen and gained. You won’t look at things the same way when you see life through the lens of gratitude. 

Have you ever been frustrated with traffic, or even have momentary road rage? Did you know your car can be a great classroom of life? Ironically, one can learn to find joy at the same time of feeling frustrated, because switching perspectives can change a situation and environment completely. With life lessons in traffic, we can remember that we can't control others, and practice not taking things personally, and develop the skill of evaluating what our reactions are and how they might affect outcome. We can learn to let things go and choose our own path by our priorities -- that faster isn't always better, and that different sometimes is just different; not right, wrong, better or worse. Even with detours, rumble strips and unfortunate accidents, you can follow the still small voice of your inner GPS, to have peace transcend rage, and be in the driver's seat of your life to enjoy the journey.