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August 24, 2018

Choosing to live my dream life...steps to finding my way there!

Today I am living my dream life. It might appear to be an ordinary day on the outside that started off in the same way as every other work day. But on the inside, I am feeling that this IS my dream life.

This morning, as I sat in my favourite sitting room at home with my work laptop positioned on the couch beside me and a hot cup of tea cradled in my hands I felt inspired to write about it, to capture the moment(s) and have something to remind me of this dream life I am already living. To be reminded that it’s not unattainable, or something for another day, or for when I’ve finished this or that, or when the sun is shining. As I sat there with my cup of tea warming my cold fingers I gazed out at the rain gently falling on this chilly end-of-winter’s day and listened to the raindrops on the roof and it felt perfect.

I had woken as usual with my alarm at 6.25am even though I was going to be working from home that day. Upon waking I decided that today I was going to live my dream life…the good life…do all those lovely things that I think about and want to do, yearn for, but don’t have time for, AND still get my work done! My image of a dream life is not one that is necessarily busy and full of amazing and new things or packed with fun and excitement by buzzing from one activity to another, but one that lives in the deepest part of my soul – one which is also amazing and full and exciting. It was going to be one that included all my seemingly ordinary activities such as getting children ready for school, getting ready for my day, or tidying the kitchen.

What was going to enhance this day and make it so much better was to go about it with more intention and using my time wisely and mindfully and moving seamlessly from one moment to another. I knew I was going to include some meditation and yoga to get my mind calm and my body loosened up. I knew it would include writing a few pages of stream of consciousness to process thoughts and clear my mind for the day to come. I would then start into my work. While time may be a concern (and often is enough for me to stall and not do the things I really want to do) and while I my preference might be to spend 30 minutes doing yoga, a further 45 minutes doing a meditation before taking 20 minutes to write a few pages of words, what I acknowledged and accepted easily was that I did have limited time – but that was no reason to not do all those things – I just needed to take a different approach. So, I spent 15 minutes doing a combined yoga and mind clearing meditation followed by 20 minutes of writing my few pages of stream of consciousness. I then started my work just after 8.30am.

What is also noticeable about my dream life is the awareness of the way I go about daily routines. Routine can be useful and we all have them, but they can also be done on autopilot with your mind elsewhere, distracted, just processing and doing life. Day in and day out. Mindfully approaching my routines on the other hand with a sense of ritual speak to me on an emotional level where I am fully engaged and are done with a sense of purpose that is meaningful and done mindfully. I am living in the Now. It is like an extension of meditation in that I am actively focused on what I am intentionally doing. I am tuned in to what I am doing in the moment whether it is cleaning the bathroom, wiping down the kitchen bench, making a cup of tea, talking to the dog or saying goodbye to my children for the day. My attention is focused on the activities as I carry them out, not just ‘tick, one more thing completed, Next!’. 

It is about choice. Choosing to embrace the slow, mindful pace of life while still doing the things that needed to be done rather than focusing on the busyness and losing myself in it.

As I now write this at the end of my day I note how liberating it was to be fully immersed and experiencing each moment. Taking the time to feel it and allow that feeling to be etched into my inner being. A gentle reminder that this is attainable every day no matter what my situation is. It is also attainable when I am based in my office at work…I can still maintain this peaceful mindset while doing my train commute, the walking to work in the wind and rain, the sitting at my desk working my way through a multitude of emails with an approach of mindfulness and peace.

A few points that I find good to remember...
  • What things do I put off doing due to lack of time or because I'm not living in the right house, or the weather isn't ideal, or I don't have a room to set up for an activity, or I have children needing my attention or no partner to do it with? Can I do one of  those things in a modified way to make it happen today?
  • Can I give myself a reminder to get my head back into the Now...bring my attention back to what I am doing and empty the distractions from my mind so I am fully focused and embracing the feeling to existing in this current moment?
  • Am I rushing through my routines when I could turn my attention to them where I begin to enjoy them and they become a ritual associated with this good, mindful life.
How do you embrace your everyday life in a way that allows you to live your dream life? Will you make time to do something off your dream list and turn your day into a good day too?

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