Inside of my last post I spoke of unconditional love including receiving that contribution and love. This post will be all about being grateful. This was a tough week for me and I was present to how easily balance in my life goes out and the little things that friends and family can do to impact us being balanced.
Inside of the stress this week, I was not tending to me. I was not being as productive; was not eating or not eating healthy; not keeping my newly started exercise routines; and overall allowing myself to be taken out by the stress. In those moments, in the past, I would beat myself up for not being perfect, not being strong enough to handle everything, eating that burrito, etc. I had a moment one night this week where I stopped the stress and reaction to the stress. What I did instead was sang one of my new favorite songs, Joy by For King & Country, at the top of my lungs driving home, walked around my neighborhood which reminded me of the power of physical activity to relieve stress (something I have only started to discover and embrace) and ate a healthy, good meal.
Prior to coming to that moment of stopping the stress and tending to myself, I had friends reminding me to breathe and asking me “how are you”. I spent time with a friend who took me out for an early birthday dinner and after that dinner, I was again calm, at peace and balanced. As I was looking over the last week, I realized that I have created an amazing community around me and that inside of that community each friend and family member contributes to me in different ways. Some friends are good at calming me down, others are great at challenging me to do new things, and others still, are great at just letting me be silly and crazy. If not for the people in my life, I would not have been able to stop the reaction to stress that night this week. I would not be centered and balanced again today and writing this blog.
Over my life until recently, I have pursued the “shoulds” we have been taught by society; having a beautiful house, nice car, perfect family, lots of money, good job, etc. And what I have discovered newly this week is that the magic and miracles of this life exists inside of the people and communities we surround ourselves with. It is in the people that we call friends and family, whether they are blood family or a created family. It is in how we leave people after each interaction with them and vice versa. It is in being human and vulnerable and allowing ourselves to receive contribution and love from others. It is perfect that the last blog was about Saying Yes and receiving contribution and love because this week what showed up was an opportunity to receive just that. This is what I’m grateful for today. What are you grateful for in your life today?