Tag: perspective

Mindfulness Lessons from a Broken Trash Can

I broke my kitchen garbage can the other day. The can – this one – has a pedal that one must depress with their foot to open the lid. Below the pedal is a stabilizing metal bar that keeps the can from toppling forward when in use. The stabilizing bar is what broke…again.

This is supposed to be the trash can that can survive an apocalypse. The first time it broke was late last year and we chalked this up to a faulty mechanism or bad design. “Is nothing made as it used to be?” we wondered once again, lamenting for those good old days that were neither good nor long enough ago. We both turned into MacGyver, turning the can over, and assessing the situation. A strong adhesive to glue in the corners of the stabilizing metal bar and plastic fittings was completed. Crisis averted? Or, just delayed?

Last week, while depressing the foot petal to raise the lid, I heard that telltale sound of a crack to the stabilizing bar. Recognizing the sound, I stopped to check my own behavior, or to check in with myself. (This is new – paying attention. My ADHD internalized so much!) I’ve become more aware of my own participation in life and “things”, and my tendency to shove everything into an external blame situation. My mind began with “what a piece of crap” and stopped mid-thought with a new idea. Instead of blaming the poor kitchen receptacle that just sits in judgment of me, was there something I did that contributed to it breaking? Did I press too hard with my foot? (Enter sense of shame.) Just how sensitive is this thing anyway? (See, the habit is a hard one to break!)

That was when I recognized the issue I needed to handle was not about the trash can at all. In fact, it is the same issue with a new and exciting flavor: mindfulness with a dash of presence. Or, how can I get more out of my head. I’m being guided and shown this idea in a variety of situations. (Yes, guided. More on that topic to come.) Situations that are a lot more serious than a broken piece of a garbage can.

I learned that, in caring for my dying mother, the responsibility was so tremendous, and I felt honored and humbled by the turn of events. My sister and I took extra care of her, cleaning her, reading to her, talking to her, and ensuring her comfort… just like when she did for us as babies. We kissed her, loved on her, and tried to be the best daughters to the best mother in the world. This required my full attention and presence. When I was distracted, I effortlessly pulled my focus back to my mother. This was a life and death situation and needed me totally aware so the correct decisions were made. Since then, my husband and I also cared for our dying and much beloved dog, Toby, which was also an honor of a different kind – yet, it taps the same feelings of love and protection but with differing angles. In caring for Toby, I found myself becoming angry at “having to do” and did not like the feeling at all! I didn’t understand these emotions as they felt disingenuous and conflicted with my heart. These new emotions did not honor nor represent my feelings for my beloved miracle pet and felt just wrong. So, instead of squelching this into some new package, I felt the emotions. These were sadness, loss, grief, and a sense of loneliness – and the same emotions I felt in processing these losses. What was I to learn by these events?

What changed in both of these situations was me: my mindset of gratitude and acceptance of both the situation and myself. I allowed myself to feel these emotions in a more healthier way. I cried, hugged, cooked, cleaned – all the physical things to make my body as tired as my mind felt. Sleep and distraction were also my friends along with a dose of “pulling myself up by my bootstraps.” Such a difficult yet educational time in my life that I’m glad I learned something from these situations!

Now, back to the can. I accepted that I heard a crack and that I had once again broken the can. Stopping mid-stride away from the can, I began to assess just what happened. Being in the present moment – or being mindful of this moment – was key for me. The crack of the can brought me out of a state of unawareness and into a present sense of reality. The ideas of being mindful and being present are issues I have been working on in myself for a while now through a program of meditation. You see, my particular brand of ADHD is dreamy and very internal. I can drift off in my mind to some other place and am not be fully present during a conversation. Usually something said will trigger something in my brain and I get transported to another place. Trauma meets ADHD – or life floating on a cloud. Sounds nice, right? Not really. In serious conversations, I would frequently lose the thread of the conversation. I used to try and engage the speaker so I could grasp this weakening conversation thread only to interrupt the speaker and distract them in the same way that I was also distracted. Then, because I was very good at recovery (practice makes perfect), I could interject a few words here, sound amazing, and the speaker would just be left confused.

This is a key aspect of my brand of ADHD and my neurodivergent brain –or my personal superpower. It is a learned response and not necessarily a good one. I can mentally travel years in a single second! Forward or – sometimes in reverse. Yet, my memory is for shit. During these times – it’s not always – I would be yelling at myself for this habit, chastising myself for being selfish or standoffish, and not even having a correct recollection due to my own distraction! (Imagine living in THAT place?) “Why can’t I pay attention?” I’d lament to myself. “How…” insert label here “…stupid/dumb/ugly/fat/awful/mean…..are you? You name it, I’ve called myself this name. Many times over. Thinking this was abnormal and that I was broken. Yes, maybe this isn’t normal but it is MY normal – and I have a legitimate physical reason for the behavior. I’m not stupid/dumb/ugly/fat/awful/mean for this.

Today, I am in a place of acceptance. I’m not selfish or standoffish – as my mother used to say to me. I’m DISTRACTED by my own thoughts that are now layering in yours and getting all jumbled up and confused. Sometimes I need to stop and re-frame my thinking – and ask for time needed to ‘catch up’ or for someone to repeat themselves. This can be very difficult for the person speaking and has caused troubling interactions and unintended offense. Today, I’ve learned that this tendency originates from a neurodivergent brain. This diagnosis gave me the ability to accept ADHD as part of me, an explanation for certain behaviors. This is not my entire identity but gave me greater awareness and, thus, the ability to create positive behavior strategies.

Or, I stopped trying to ‘fix’ myself. I am accepting my mental dreaming as part of my own personal human uniqueness. This is why the ADHD diagnosis is so important. It explained so much and gave me the ability to accept what is and without the condemnation of self. This wasn’t a behavior problem to be solved. My issues were my natural coping mechanism and my ability to focus and be present.

I began to see the trash can more as a mirror for me to recognize that I was doing something wrong. No, wrong isn’t quite correct. That is my old self talking. Today, I’m doing something out of congruence with my feelings. Self-acceptance is very powerful and a key tool for me. What am I being told by the breaking of the stabilization bar? Well, obviously I’m using too much pressure on the can with my foot.

So, instead of complaining about the can or being angry at something breaking, I became curious. Why is the pressure I’m using breaking this can feature? Is it my superhuman foot strength that has never been in evidence before? Should I take my newfound strength to the NFL as a field goal kicker? I must be really strong, no?

No.

A fun and meandering argument with myself takes me out of the shame loop and gave me space between thoughts. This was when I realized I was needing be be more mindful and see the situation in the moment. Here is what happened: Instead of stopping and opening the lid with my foot, I walked towards the can mid-stride to open the lid while simultaneously walking away from the can. Economical, aren’t I? I “walked” by the can to open the lid while on my way somewhere else. This caused too much pressure to be used. Or, I was too busy just to stop and use the garbage can. Isn’t that something of a realization? Too busy to focus on pressing a pedal with the correct amount of pressure.

Trust me, I never, ever want to be that busy. The idea of slowing down, paying attention to the pressing of the foot pedal, raising the can lid within a state of mindfulness was appealing to me. I wasn’t sure why and I had to think on this point. Why does the idea of slowing down appeal to me? The idea reminded me of Aki and his content created on YouTube in his Samurai Matcha channel. He has a video linked here that I have watched a few times on cleaning. These are not “how to” videos but “why” and, importantly, how one engages their mind in the physical act of cleaning. I had not done this in my kitchen cleaning duties. Aki has had quite a few physical challenges of late where mindset has been key. His ideas of cleaning translated to mindfulness in very serious health situations, too. Just how powerful is this idea?

Once again, back to the can. I realized that I was not being present or mindful in my cleaning activities as Samurai Matcha recommends. Apparently, I automatically labeled my situation in my head as a chore or being mundane or unimportant. These ideas are what caused me to gloss over the moment and seeking the important things outside of my current activity – or increased my distraction. If I see the moment as unimportant, I am missing the joy of the activity. How can I see all moments as important? Well, one must first have the realization that they have not applied the most helpful mindset for this particular moment. I had not even realized that I had even labeled the idea of pushing the foot pedal as anything other than a chore on my way to something else. This slight cracking noise of the breaking connection totally took me out of the mental reverie I didn’t even know I was in because I was physically busy. Interesting idea.

One thing I’ve learned is that there is a lesson in most everything in life. So, I’ve stopped trying to actively change myself and am trying to become more of an observer. This is a struggle that I’m finding a constant yet rewarding battle with my ego. I’m doing OK. I do have certain behaviors that do not please me for any reason other than wanting to be happier. Mindfulness – or presence – in even the mundane can be a struggle. Sometimes, life throws an experience for you to learn the simplest of ideas – like a broken trash can. Being mindful feels like slowing down. Yet, is mindfulness truly slower? Or, our natural state. I like to think they are both the same thing.

Peace.

Lessons from Adversity

In life, we can have easier roads and those that are more challenging. What I’m realizing is that, just because the journey is a challenge, doesn’t mean that one shouldn’t travel down said road. If we can put our emotions aside during those challenging times and focus on moving through and past whatever “it” is, do we always just move past without learning anything? Isn’t that what life truly is? A journey of learning? What happens when I just sit in the situation to observe it while, simultaneously, not rushing to fix the situation? Hmm.

Right now, my husband and I are caring for our aging dog, Toby. He will be 16 next month and, for a dog of his size, he has been on borrowed time for a few years. Toby, however, has a genetic condition that has made his care extremely precarious and, at times, very costly. Yet, Toby handles this all with the same cute face and attitude. Watching how he navigates what only can be said is a very confusing time for him has taught me so much about myself. What I would have lost had I not just sat during these times – as uncomfortable as they are – just to see how I could grow from the experience. Don’t opportunities for growth come out of ALL experiences? Can I make a difficult time be a welcome opportunity for growth just like happy times are welcome? In the difficult and challenging situations, we just may not realize that we are growing until the situation has passed because the feeling is not desired. We are so worked up about the emotions of the situation that we don’t see our own potential for growth through the challenge.

I don’t know about you but I really like a happy moment better than a moment that involves cleaning up bio messes! There is no glory in this level of care. No rewards from your co-workers. No “Atta Girl!” for standing outside with Toby at 2AM while he pretends to do his business. (Oh, I’m on to him!) All of these “chores” are handled quietly and within a certain dignity and respect. I started to view the aging process a bit differently in trying to gauge my emotions over my failing and devoted canine companion. Aging can be viewed as a necessity of living or the acquisition of a greater amount of knowledge of the world and myself. Personally, I like the latter way of thinking because one is truly more mindful than the other and it is this – mindfulness – that I’m striving to perfect.

Mindfulness is a broad term so let me explain the context. I have found that, in my ADHD journey, I thrive on mental stimulation as my brain loves to turn over ideas and creations. (One of my reasons for sharing so many crafting project ideas!) This stimulation can be driven both internally – like me – and externally. The external stimulation is much more nuanced in that we really believe we have a choice of just how much external “noise” we will allow. The “noise” isn’t always loud and in your face. The quiet sound of the refrigerator motor or air conditioning is also stimulation. In a person with ADHD, these noises all jumble up and become really aggravating so I retreat internally to work on balancing these two sources. Or, when you are speaking to me and I get a far away look on my face, I have not been listening and even I never realized that fact until that moment. Many times, I have my “to do” list running in my head as you are speaking. No, not deliberately….well, mostly not deliberately. (LOL!) I’m just afraid I’ll forget something (cue Executive Function and ADHD) and haven’t taken the time to write this really important thing I’m going to forget into my notes or planner. (This also explains why I gravitate towards paper planners!) Or, in a moment of creative genius, I resolved whatever problem I had been tossing around in my head (for there is always thinking going on) and cannot execute on the idea because I’m talking to someone on the phone. Thinking I can be doing two things at once? The ultimate self-deception. Sure, I can do two things and each one gets a split of my attention that is available while I’m externally working and also thinking about cooking dinner. Nothing I work on gets my full attention and this deficit is really keenly felt. It gets into the over-stimulation of distraction.

This tendency to distraction rules my thinking almost exclusively which ramps up my over-stimulation. (Actually, I didn’t even realize this was “a thing” until watching this YouTuber who makes the most pleasing and calming videos. The idea of over stimulation was something I accepted in myself but did not understand.) With ADHD, there is now clarity for me as I’ve learned that I seek the stimulation as part of a hormonal surge that, once completed, leaves me feeling really high only to fall really low. Recently, I’ve been trying to be more artistic to balance my need for mental stimulation through creation and not thought. Or, trying to get myself out of my head. My morning routine involves some sort of technical connection (phone), and a really external focus (e.g., news, social media, cat videos, etc.). This morning, however, I decided to things differently because Toby needed my assistance. And, as a result, I’m now writing a blog post and doing something more creative than ‘doom scrolling’ arrest videos. It occurred to me that, by caring for my beloved pet, I actually was kinder to myself. WOW!

Yesterday, to test this theory, I handled my day as normal. However, whenever I had the urge to pick up my phone, I didn’t. I diverted my attention to something I had wanted to do but never had the time. (OK, it was vacuuming.) I felt so good about setting my bedroom up with a clean and fresh-smelling carpet (lavender oil) and would have missed this opportunity to feel good by watching another video of criminal lawyer reacts. (I do love me some Bruce Rivers!) Distraction is helpful for me to release some pressure; a fun vacation. Mindfulness – or managing my stimulation – is really helpful. Knowing that there is a difference? The WIN!

Peace.

Get Well, Anthony Rizzo!

The title of this post is probably confusing but it really highlights my journey and what I’ve recently learned about ‘flow’. And, in case you are still confused, life is all about ‘flow’ or ‘energy’. My writings dabble in this from time to time recanting my amazing recollections or epiphanies of thought that I feel are so advanced and engaging. (LOL!) How ‘un-humble’ of me! An experience of flow that I’m sharing with you now will give you the background of this post…and the meaning of the title.

I recently had family visit from out of town to stay at a local Airbnb. My cousin provided me with information about the location and I validated it to be okay. Wanting to provide them with a little gift basket, I mailed a nice card to the proprietor and asked that he text me so I could arrange to drop off a few items in a gift basket. I took care to write my note with the feeling I felt (joy, elation) at my visiting family. The response was amazing and I went with the ‘flow’ – and met some really great people. During our conversation, the proprietor, Mike, and I found we had a lot in common, and were amazed at how life just lays out before one if we just be patient and manage our energy (and perspective). That was when I told Mike I had one other thing I felt called to do: Send a Get Well card to Anthony Rizzo. Mike advised that I should do this and, instead of mailing any old Hallmark, I decided to post my get well message for Anthony as it was part of a larger lesson to do what I’m feeling is right based on my heart, or heart-forward.

So, who is Anthony Rizzo? Anthony Rizzo is the first baseman for the New York Yankees. Rizzo, 34, drafted in 2007, has played for a number of teams and always seemed to be a mild-mannered, affable guy. A fierce competitor. At least, as a fan, this is how he was portrayed by the media. However, Rizzo is also a cancer survivor, having had Hodgkin lymphoma in 2008 as a young man. He has established a charitable foundation to provide aid to families who have similar experiences which is very integral to the mission of his life. This is a guy that pays his good fortune forward…and backward . A class act; a mensch. After a collision on May 28th with Fernando Tatis, Jr., of the San Diego Padres, he continued to play but struggled. The struggle was really visible and you could see his frustration just mount and mount. Finally, after months of struggling, the team placed him on the injured list (IL) so he could work through what appeared to be a concussion resulting from the collision.

During this time between injury and placement on the IL, he was routinely booed by fans in the stadium. (Us television watchers would be yelling at the screen so we were far from innocent.) The yelling felt wrong because one could plainly see his angst on his face. I began feeling like I was yelling at a wounded beloved animal for being wounded. (Who does that!!??) So, I decided to begin a silent meditation or prayer for him to be better. No, not necessarily to hit better (sheesh!) but just to ‘be’ better for he looked so awkward in his struggles. (Thankfully, my bad days at work are not televised on national airwaves!) I began to speak to my husband about the energy this created for Anthony and how I thought this was bad for the entire team. Now don’t get me wrong: Booing at Yankee Stadium is a right of passage when purchasing the ticket. Afterall, if I paid those prices, struggled to the stadium, spent half a mortgage payment on concessions, I’d be booing as well if the team appeared to not care. I realized that the ‘appearance’ and my thinking about this was the key. My perception was that the team did not care. I recognized that this was MY perception and was not true. So, my other alternative viewpoint was to assume they cared – and struggled as a result of the caring. This made more sense to me as the true situation which was difficult because no one wants to watch their team (or family, spouse, beloved pet, or anything else they cared about) struggle without being able to help them. (I think it is against a healthy human nature to not help others.) This resetting allowed me to begin cheering for my team and, in earnest, the players that they would realize their dreams and full potential. (I wanted to ‘sage’ the house after the Red Sox recent sweep, too, but the hubby wasn’t having any of that. LOL.)

This season caused me to pause about what it means to be a true fan. I began thinking about how we could cheer for our teams even during the crap times. My husband and I began to really notice the booing trend – and I did not like it one bit. Fans need to be encouraging during good and BAD times. Repeat: BAD TIMES. For every up, there is a down. We need to manage both ends of the swing to be in the center to enjoy what we have and look forward to what is in our horizon. We spoke of this at length for every boo of Aaron Judge – again, who does that!? Then, the Philadelphia Phillies fans did something I wanted the Yankees’ fans to do that was truly remarkable: They ’embraced’ their struggling player, Trea Turner, by giving him a standing ovation during a particularly rough patch which gave him the energy he needed to excel. Kudos to the classy Phillies’ fans who supported their team and player. The turnaround was remarkable. Turner was always a great player but, now, he is also a Phillie.

We continue to watch the Yankees as they have a losing season but now we stick with the team. As fans, we may want bragging rights to continue. However, I decided that I want better for the people who comprise the Yankees as people. And, thus, I really want Anthony Rizzo to get well. Because, he has a lot of non-baseball work to do – and the world needs more Anthony Rizzos.

Get well, Anthony Rizzo. And, thanks. Peace.

My Scorched Earth Proposal

When you hear of the term ‘scorched earth’, what comes to mind for you? To me, this is the very last “take no prisoners” kind of effort. An all-out, no holds barred kind of effort. Scorched earth is defined as a military strategy that aims to destroy anything that might be useful to the enemy. So, while I’m not destroying useful things, I am destroying my own beliefs in what is right or proper treatment for my psoriasis. My new approach may create some unintended consequences. These consequences are also goals but have to be mentally and closely managed to be successful. My definition of scorched earth is more to: This is it! And, my friends, this is the subject of this post: my health journey and a beginning.

I have written about my health struggles. After my mother’s death, I took a hard look at my own life and came up concerned. My own health was following in my mom’s path and I was not going to go down easy. My main concern besides my weight is my psoraisis. While I’ve had a weight problem since I was a child, the psoriasis is an adult problem. Or, a relatively new concern that is, now, 20 years old. I’ve been very encouraged by some additional data that I’ve accumulated, and I’d like to share this with you.

The medical community failed me. Truly. For my psoriasis, the prescribed remedies were steriod creams, powerful drugs or just a shrug of the shoulders. In one case, at a leading medical hospital in New York City, the doctor just shrugged without any real solution. I had been struggling with the psoriasis for about 5 years as it slowly got worse. Working in New York City, I realized that I had access to the top medical doctors. Making an appointment, I was once again given the psoriasis diagnosis and provided my next infusion of steriod and vitamin creams. This seemed to be the modus operandi for my initial visits because, of course, no other doctor did this. Right. When I voiced such to the doctor, she pretty much said that I would need to follow just her guidance so she could properly treat me. OK, I thought. Let me give this another try.

Determined, I salved myself up everyday, my legs becoming an oily, gooey mess under my slacks. The good folks at the hospital who shall not be named surely know their business, right? And, wouldn’t you know it? The psoriasis went away! My calf skin was so clear that I could not see any evidence of prior skin issues at all. My legs were clear, skin nice and solid, and my itching was gone. I found my cure! This doctor is a genius! Then, a few weeks later and out of the blue, I began to feel bloated and I retained fluids. My hands and legs were huge, and I felt miserable with problems walking on my huge feet and just feeling well. And, wouldn’t you know it? My psoriasis came back and with a vengeance for it was really angry that I tried to evict it from my body. (By now, I created my psoraisis into “a thing” independent of me.) My swollen legs had bright red patches covering 60% of my lower leg. Before, I had blotches – spots really – this size of dimes and quarters. After this event, I now had huge chunks of red, swollen flesh. My legs appeared to be chemically burned. Did this just get worse with all of my treatments? I was stunned, and called my doctor.

Time for another visit where the doctor just shrugged. She poked around a bit and had no other offerrings. The nursing assistant who processed me into the office for my appointment had more of a reaction for he actually gasped and recoiled when I pulled up my trouser legs. I was materially worse with bright angry red blotches that looked a second away from a bloody mess. Struggling to understand what happened, I asked the doctor why didn’t the cream continue to work? My friends, this was the FIRST time I learned that psoriasis was treated by steriods but that this treatment does not resolve the problem. What? How can that be? Why would I be given treatment but no cure? And, that is when it hit me: Steroid creams will not solve the problem. I asked if there could be any nutritional correlation or something I could be doing better in my diet? The doctor said not really. I pressed because I had always believed that good nutrition equalled good health. (Folks, just because I could not follow good nutritional guidelines didn’t mean I don’t know about good nutrition. Just sayin’. You may be surprised that most obese people really do know about proper nutrition. It is following these guidelines that is difficult…or so I used to think after I began to question said guidelines.) Then, the doctor said that there were some recent studies about nutritional implications in psoriasis. My thought then was this: Why did I have to ask you repeatedly to get this information? And my only answer to that question as I pondered the visit on my way home? My changing nutrition and healing myself does not sell drugs. Or medical visits. Or snake oil cures. I realized I was part of society that was sick and would follow that path. (Sociology studiers know about this.) I began staring down psoriatic arthritis and pictured myself tragically impacted by this debiliating disorder.

Psoriasis cure?

Not wanting this for myself, I began a path that would take me to new heights, deep lows, meeting new friends (Hi Karen!), and ending up with a new focus: Education. I also realized that while searching for my own purpose in life, my obstacle is actually my purpose. For this reason, I plan to share my journey to healing with you in the hope that this message finds and helps someone else. What you will find out is that a kind person provided me with key insight that set me on my own path to wellness, a journey of insight, reflection, and change. Very scary but, if I can weather the storms, the results will be their own reward.

One thing I have learned is that there is a lot of information – and misinformation – available to us that is packaged up and looks really official. Check out this study on psoriasis here. To the layman, this looks really technical and must be legit because of all of the chemical notations. (This was my initial take!) However, the study has this language in its abstract section that had me wondering:

“Psoriasis patients often show unbalanced dietary habits such as higher intake of fat and lower intake of fish or dietary fibers, compared to controls. Such dietary habits might be related to the incidence and severity of psoriasis.”

Now, that is just – excuse my language here – fucking bullshit. I’m calling it. BULLSHIT. I have been on so many diets: Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, NutriSystem, vegetarian, vegan, grain-free, AIP, liquid – you name it. I have never seen my psoriais improve with any of it. Now, most studies are reliable and probably okay. However, you needed to be really consider all of the possible issues within the testing to get the true picture. How are studies funded? What data was used? What preconceptions could there be? These are legitimate and valuable questions to be answered, too. Now, this study provided no scientific evidence for this statement, and the basis of this analysis may consider this unverified premise based on a societal viewpoint unfavorable to the obese. (And, if you don’t believe there is a bias towards people who are overweight, you need to buy the Brooklyn Bridge I’m now selling. Cheap.) I cannot tell you how many times my issues were discounted because my weight was seen as ‘the cause.’ (Hello, Endocrinologist, who told me my thyroid numbers were good only to find out – accidentally – that I had cancer of the thyroid.) Well, what if my weight is the RESULT of something else? What if our medical establishment actually focused on obesity not as a biblical failure or any type of failure of that matter. I would routinely sit with a group to eat lunch, gaining weight on my food which was half the volume of those around me. Yes, I think I gained their weight too!

Here is the dilemma for the average human: Any nutritional study is subject to interpretation because nutritional studies require very specific controls. Depending on the study, the data can be misinterpreted if the human factors influencing the measurements are not also considered. These types of trials are very expensive because you must provide for quite a lot of controls to really be able to assess the data. Therefore, most studies do not include this level of control or they are funded by large companies who have the currency to spend on biased studies to support their product. Additionally, each human is different and their bodies metabolize the same foods with different results. A lot of what I eat reacts differently with you as I described at my lunch table. Why is that? Well, my background – and genetics – are different. And, I then began to consider that I am a first generation American. My parents were German and immgrated in 1956. Therefore, they grew up eating very differently than we do today. I recalled years past and how different my diet and eating were…and when that changed, and correlated this to a specific point in my teenage years. I began to consider this approach.

First, I took on educating myself. Then, I experimented and measured success through my psoriasis healing. Then, I backtracked to clear my own journey, see what I learned, and deliberately used that learning to move forward to health. I’m doing a daily ‘check in’ on my journey right now and I’m seeing very positive results. However, time will tell if this path is one I can stay on, or if I will need to make a turn somewhere ahead. That is OK for progress – and marking progress – is extremely helpful. In the past, I buried my head to measuring progress for I didn’t want to acknowledge my own failures. (Area #1 that I needed to fix before beginning this new path.) I have many failures on my path to success. Just like dating, one has to meet many partner prospects before deciding the type of person you wanted to be with. I used to see my own struggles as failures. However, I now see these as little detours on my ultimate journey. Detours that gave me a two options: I could wallow in them, or I could pick myself up, dust myself off, bandage my wounds, and begin again. And, I remembered to bring lots of bandaids for this journey is not without injury.

To a new beginning. Peace.

Lessons from 2021 – September *or* Three New Daily Habits

It is August 29, 2021, and I’ve just completed my post for the month of August.  In this, I examined my original draft written about three weeks ago and compared this to my feelings today which were completely different and I wanted to understand why that happened.  I found that I slacked off on my planning and let my incoming emails dictate the day and I’m feeling the mental stress of my lack of planning.

plan-2372176__480For September, I am committing to making a structure of three different areas with the following goals:

  1. Personal – I will do one “chore” each day towards the overall maintenance of my home.  Each chore will be no more than a collective 20 minutes; any longer chores will be split up over a few days.
  2. Self-Care – I will do at least one positive thing towards my health goals of wellness. This may include: eating breakfast, choosing fruit and more natural sweets, drink water, exercise, meditate, wash/moisturize my skin, wear matching clothing, etc.
  3. Work – Select my “one thing” and complete it to the best of my ability.  Time block mornings for execution, afternoons for communication.  If it takes multiple days, take the time and block it off.

Now that I’ve written my intentions here, I shall copy this into my journal (Hey, Self-Care!!) so that I can keep it in my intentional focus.  I will report back at the end of September with my thoughts.

WEEK ONE CHECK IN – Week Ending September 3, 2021

I decided to add to my original plan a weekly review which includes a check in with myself for a month seems too long and doesn’t allow me to have my own personal “immediate” feedback.  This week was hectic – two days I worked straight through without a lunch break or any pauses.  I recognized that a lot of my normal self care and personal chores existed in my AM and PM routines so I acknowledged those in my planner.  Both of these routines have been ongoing for a while now but without a daily intention or acknowledgement.  Checking them off each day gave me a feeling of satisfaction, the formality of setting this in my calendar extremely helpful.  Interesting, right? I also added a work task to each day that was not my “One Thing” but was for the purpose of that day and what was best for my organization.  This, in turn, helped me so this type of thinking became my “one thing”…for now.  I realize that there is no personal element considered in this type of thinking and that will need to shift if I’m to enjoy what I do for a living.

Since working from home during COVID, the morning routine I’ve found that works best for me was based on my assessment using Atomic Habits of my daily patterns and each task is designed to initiate the next task.  (Now, I’m on autopilot.)  My AM routine consists of – and not in any specific order:

  • wake
  • start coffee (push button)
  • take AM pill (on empty stomach)
  • morning ablutions (or shower depending on the day)
  • make my AM bulletproof coffee
  • read the news (only while “going” which is about what the news is worth to me these days)
  • meditate (I’m listening to a great audio book as a meditation strategy)
  • dress
  • make breakfast for the dog and I
  • take AM vitamins & other medicines with food
  • journal
  • start work

FINAL THOUGHTS – Week One

Now, many of you may say, “Why doesn’t she make her bed?” which seems to be the cornerstone of everyone’s morning routine.  Well, I have a partner that does not get up at the same time as I do.  I mention this because there is a lot of information about morning routines in the Inter-World — and there is no one right way.  That is why Atomic Habits was so helpful.  (You’re welcome.)  Having my goals in my journal where I viewed them every day was also really helpful.  One cannot achieve something if your focus is elsewhere.  I also used my planner and checked off all of my achievements.  I find that a “healthy” look – without judgment – of my progress will be key for me.  On to Week #2!

WEEK TWO CHECK IN – Week Ending September 10, 2021

Last week was a bit more chaotic than the first week.  I began my week with a good plan of daily assessments along with my “AM” and “PM” routines noted in my calendar.  The structure helped me to see that I lacked a bit of discipline in my planning.

My “One Thing” for the job, however, wasn’t as clear to me each day.  (Considering my job takes up more than a third of each day, not setting my “One Thing” each day was detrimental to my overall productivity.  (Note: I only realized this after the fact.)  If left unchecked, my days can be filled with “shallow work” or, as Professor Cal Newport says in his book, Deep Work:

“Shallow Work: Noncognitively demanding, logistical-style tasks, often performed while distracted.  These efforts tend to not create much new value in the world and are easy to replicate.”  (Page 6)

By the end of the week, I felt this lack of stability very clearly in my choice of tasks that may not have been the best use of my time.  In the middle of the week, I took a day off just because.  While this wasn’t on my schedule per say, I felt the need to walk away from my work for a bit of a break and practiced being retired. person-768787__340 I feel like I have one foot in both worlds: working and retired.  I’m making the mental transition, too, and have a bit of myself scattered all over the place.  This “scattering” may be why I’m not mentally engaged in either place.  Focus, like willpower, I’m learning, is limited and each area of focus takes a bit more energy so that I’m not really able to focus on one thing at a time.  I’m working out a “time blocking” scenario for working that includes my routines.  For those of you interested, here is my PM routine:

  • Decide to go to bed (I don’t have a set time, usually signaled by my couch dozing)
  • Clean kitchen, reset dishwasher, wipe counters and spills, clean sink which usually takes me about 15 minutes.  It is a good break from the television, too.
  • Set up coffee so that I can hit a button.
  • Brush teeth
  • Wash and moisturize face
  • Prep CPAP machine (Yay! Thanks, menopause and being overweight)
  • Treat psoriasis with whatever cream a doctor gave me that is purported to work
  • Read a few pages until dozing

That is about it for my PM routine.  It doesn’t take me long and I like the bit of a break between watching television and actually sleeping.

FINAL THOUGHTS – Week Two

I’m a bit tired at the end of this week, more mentally than physically.  I’m not sure why other than my attention is a bit scattered, like I have a lot on my plate but am unaware of everything.  And, I’m not even sure that this is the reason for the unease.  I do think that focusing on too much at once is unhealthy for me and I don’t feel like I’m really involved due to the lack of focus.  I think I will make more of an effort to be in the moment and focus on what is in front of me – whether I placed it there or life has given me a new opportunity for growth.  I also think that I lacked meal structure and have taken a few options in my shopping to help me stay nourished in a more structured kind of way.  Last week, we had some work done on our house which changed my normal.  I did not prepare and could not go grocery shopping because the trucks blocked the garage.  The work is marvelous and one of the three projects I must do before I can officially retire.  This may be why I feel like I’m in two places at once.  Interesting thought that my external goals for my house are impacting to such a degree my retirement feelings and my plan.

This week, I plan to time block my mornings and select my most important task to complete each day.  I will continue with my AM and PM routines as they are.  I also need to add one household chore to each day, which I will do….AND STICK WITH IT.

WEEK THREE CHECK IN – Week Ending September 17, 2021

Last week was a pretty productive week if you look at my calendar.  I don’t really “feel” that my week was productive, however.  I’m not sure why that is and am considering that productivity is more of a state of mind than an actual “thing.” Like, I need to “feel” productive in order to be productive? (Editing Note: In week one, above, I made the following statement: I find that a “healthy” look – without judgment – of my progress will be key for me.  BAM! I actually caught myself before sliding down my normal hole of despair and self-focused negativity.)  So, taking my sage wisdom from about two weeks ago, let me re-frame my week a bit.

What I did do was work to shift on the small things and began compounding them each day for a successful outcome.  I began to block my time on Wednesday and found that I got work done without a lot of interruption.  (Cool!) The structure – interestingly enough – also helped me to schedule in some exercise which I added on Friday and Saturday.  (OMG!) I wrote into my planner “AM Routine” and “PM Routine” before the week began, and checked them off each day in my planner.  That simple writing it down, stopping each day to check, thinking about my routine, and the physical act of “checking a box” really helped me to mentally “block” the time for myself.  I also journaled a few days as well.

While I always mentally blocked time in my mind, my reality never really formally adapted to this construct which created a sense of incompleteness in my day.  By externally writing things more formally in my planner, this action mentally closed a completion loop for me.  (Interesting.)  I also began to write my One Thing for work and for my household, the latter of which did not get done during the week.  Frankly, I could care less today.  (Again, interesting.)  I want the result (clean house) but the daily tasks were apparently too much for me.  As I understand these concepts, I’m going to need to see this task (clean house) as a smaller set of more doable tasks.  dualism-1197153__480As I look back at my week just completed, I was so focused on what I didn’t do that this perspective created an overall negativity that is like a lone dark cloud on an otherwise sunny day and altering your plans because there is a chance of rain.  Seems I may have tapped into something “off” in how I think here which will give me something to consider for next week.

FINAL THOUGHTS – Week Three

I do better with a bit of formalized structure to my life; this is a benefit for me.  This constant mental chatter of my own progress (and lack thereof) is challenged when I formalize the structure so my own mental “truth” can be faced with the facts, in my own handwriting, in my planner.  In my review of this week, this profoundly impacted me. This realization is also key: my version of discipline must have a structure, be formal, and be accountable – and honestly accountable.  No bad feelings over here, just realization and acceptance. For Week Four, I will strive to ensure that my structure is sound, relevant, and applicable.  Where I feel the structure is lacking or not as successful, I will go smaller and into tinier pieces until I reach the right feeling (or frequency), and then compound them through my daily habits, being satisfied with what is “right now.”  On to Week Four!

WEEK FOUR CHECK IN – Week Ending September  24, 2021

Dear Reader, if you are still with me this far, thank you!!  This journey, the chronicling of my thinking over the past month in my blog, has been really inspiring.  My lesson learned is that my “structure of disciplined ideas” – which is what I’m calling my routines – really helped me.  Just yesterday, I had a medical appointment in the afternoon that took me out of my normal routines.  basin-1502544__480No cooking, so we had some takeout for dinner so my dishes were minimal.  I was also extremely tired – mentally exhausted – at another tough week.  As I was preparing for bed – or “executing my PM routine” – skipping steps felt unnatural to me.  I began to look at those few dishes in the sink and my clean dishwasher that needed emptying with a different mindset.  My mindset was not of “Ugh!” but of “How long does this really take?”  and “If I stop mentally arguing with myself, I’d be done with XX by now.”  (Interesting.)  My habit of doing the dishes at night ‘stuck’ and I did them quickly, routinely, and went to bed.

Now, I wondered how much of that was habit versus mind-over-matter, like did I just do this because I knew I was blogging on the subject?  Was my physical and mental discomfort over the messy kitchen real or make believe?  The very next day, I got my answer.  On Saturday, September 25, 2021, or yesterday, I had the same situation.  We had to take our Toby to the doctor at 2pm – smack dab in the middle of the afternoon which throws my routine right out.  We then went grocery shopping, again, outside of the normal routine, ordered our favorite pizza – an eggplant Napolitano with balsamic glaze – from Mama Theresa’s in New Windsor, New York.  We have not had this since before the Pandemic so this was such a treat that we ordered a whole pie – or eight slices.  By the time we got home, the time was around 5 p.m. so dinner was leftovers as we got hungry.  This resulted in my same situation – minimal dishes and a tired Susan.  I, again, told my husband I was going straight to bed – and ended up doing the dishes AND watered my plants.  Why? Because, my Dear Reader friends, I had built a habit of waking up to a clean and tidy kitchen.  My habit was not necessary to do dishes but to wake up with a clean kitchen.  Cool, right?  Just that little change in my perspective helped me to create a solid and comfortable habit.  I’ve always wanted to be the person who could not go to bed with dirty dishes in the sink … and now, I am that person.

FINAL THOUGHTS – Week Four

I finally understand how discipline can help me in my life in other areas, too.  Restriction is not something I’m good with and need to remember that.  However, discipline is very good for me if I get it out of my head and onto paper.  As a person who is highly visual, this makes sense because the act of putting my thoughts to papers helps me see my progress – rather than relying on my faulty perception to feel my progress.  Feeling my progress is also misleading because these feelings get clouded with, well, life.  Good day? Feels great, making progress.  Bad day?  Sucks!  No progress made.  (See my correlation?)

This realization has been throughout the week in other areas, too, since I began to pay attention.  I’m also a great believer in the synchronicities in life giving us direction…if we are paying attention.  I began to realize that the structure I’ve created is not “restriction” as I had felt but of “discipline” which is a very different mindset.  When going to bed, thinking of discipline and how positive an experience this had been for me, I pulled out my night table reading materials.  I’m re-reading The One Thing to my support myself through this experience.  Using my book mark I opened to the chapter I’d left off from the previous evening’s reading.  This was Chapter 6: A Disciplined Life.  Yes, Dear Reader, this happened, and I was paying enough attention to recognize this little “Atta Girl” from the universe.  I also found a great summary of the book here for those of you intrigued.

MY FIVE LESSONS LEARNED FOR SEPTEMBER 2021:

  1. Creating a structure for myself is a key area of my life that I need to consider in what I do and who I am.  There is a discipline in this that makes me extremely comfortable and helps my negative self-talk become a small whisper instead of a constant yelling.  Seeing this structure has helped me to create an exercise routine that I’m enjoying, an eating routine that keeps me nourished with good food choices, and a mentally supporting style of thinking that is really helping me feel better.
  2. Having discipline within myself doesn’t mean I’m locked in to anything.  It means that I have the freedom of choice – at all times.  That is restriction.
  3. And, speaking of restriction, I don’t do well with restriction – yet I tend to see the world in that way.  My changing references in my mental body will be key so that, where I feel any restriction, I must review the situation for what it truly is.  In my life, I cannot view any changes as “restriction” or these will become sour and cause me untold amount of mental anguish.
  4. Having the discipline to create good structures for myself doesn’t mean I’m locked into just that; I can always add or take away what no longer works.  Change doesn’t mean anything failed; change means only that circumstances – whatever they are – have shifted.
  5. Don’t add a “value” label or a “belief” label to anything, anyone, or myself – the latter of which is my normal focus.  Labels take judgment and perception that are most likely way wrong.  Don’t judge others for the same; they are also on the journey.

CONCLUSION:

All in all, September was a helluva month.  What a turning point.  My acceptance of myself has lead me to very different realizations that I will begin to follow in other life areas.  These realizations have also really helped me to overcome a few mental challenges in stepping up my game.  Maybe some of the changes take, maybe some need smaller increments to help them stick.  Whatever life throws at me, however, can be handled for I have the discipline and restriction to handle life – whether that means to step back and watch, or to jump right in and take a deep dive.

Peace, Dear Reader.  Be well, and welcome fall.

 

 

 

Lessons from 2021 – July *or* How Clutter Impacts Our Thinking

At my office, I have the cleanest desk.  It is so clean that people remark about how organized I appear to be. (LOL) The surface of my desk has work equipment (laptop, keyboard), phone, stapler, pens, and my paper calendar.  That’s it.  Anything else is put away in a drawer or cabinet so the effect is a pretty clean desk.  I find myself really productive in my office except, of course, when interrupted by a person or task.  Since I’ve been working from home and using my home office, I’ve been unable to create this same feeling.  My home office desk is cluttered with these items plus all of my art supplies, paper, files, and just a bunch of things that have no real home space.  When sitting at my desk now, I feel a bit overwhelmed and unable to really think clearly.  The contrast between my home office and my work office – and the level of organization – came to my attention as something needing sorting.

I began to focus on the idea of minimalism, its roots, and why some people really like this style of living.  (The link is a very good explanation of a new channel I found in writing this post.  I plan to check out more of her work.  She couples minimalism and intention which, IMHO, is extremely important.)  I began to wonder what benefits I might achieve with a “less” mindset? Will this impact my intentional thinking about myself, my goals, and dreams if I don’t feel so overwhelmed by my “things” and have a “less is more” mindset?

In the beginning of the Pandemic, I began to rethink my office set up at home to be more like my work set up: streamlined and minimalist.  While my home office served me well when I used the office sporadically, working in the space full time began to create a level of discomfort that I correlated to having a messy desk.  To make my home office similar to my official office, however, is a much more daunting task because the items in my home office have no where else to live.  It’s not like I have all of my art supplies at my desk at work.  In order to make my home office more comfortable, I almost need to reset my entire house because cleaning and organizing one space creates havoc in other areas of the house. (EDIT: Let me be completely honest with you…and myself… about my Pandemic mindset which began fueling this desire to streamline my stuff.  I thought that, if I died, I did not want anyone to have to sift through my “things”.  This was something I wanted to do.  That realization made me see all of my “collections” in a very different way – more like a burden than an achievement.  I also realized that I’d prefer to spend my money on “experiences” and not “things” so getting rid of my “things” really began to weigh on me.  More on that another time.)

To help me better address this claustrophobic feeling in my office space and how to best handle the overwhelm, I began a household “review” of my space, any unused space, and how best to feel less overwhelmed by my stuff.  Now, I don’t have a lot of stuff but what I do have is really unorganized and, frankly, overwhelming.  To experiment, I began to review my china cabinet and take an unsentimental assessment of my “things.” wine-glasses-176991__480I found that I owned over 40 different wine glasses for a person who does not drink wine.  These glasses have been unused in my cabinet for the past 20 years and have been screaming (OK, not literally) at me to use them.  What I “heard” was this: “I am made for celebrations and parties, not for display!” Glassware has a usefulness so I have always felt okay with collecting it.  However, my wine goblets and pretty crystal stemware were not being used for their intended purpose.  I decided to “rehome” most of them by donating most to my local Habitat for Humanity for resale.  I really believe these glasses were almost happy to be able to grace someone else’s home/table.  Feeling better, I added two platters that were unused (I have three left), two over-sized crystal vases, and some gently-used plastic cake/cupcake carriers.  Immediately, I felt like the energy in my dining room eased a bit: I felt really good about the donation and I realized that there was a bit more air for breathing.  On a roll, I removed a wall hanging from one of my walls in our foyer adjacent to the dining room that I had purchased on a whim and never quite liked.  In its place, I put an older art piece where I liked the aesthetic of the dark frame on a light wall.  I find myself drawn to that area of the house now because the aesthetic pleases me because the air feels lighter. Wow.

question-mark-3255136__480I began to wonder why that is?  How can the excess and free space impact me so immediately? I realized through my studies that “things” all have energy and operate at different levels of vibration.  Or, the science of physics.  (I call it ‘thing energy’ as opposed to ‘people energy’.  How original, right?) Some of us are more sensitive to ‘thing energy’ than others; some people can actually feel the vibrations of someone who may have owned the object at one time.  The latter situation is called psychometry which is not my issue for I don’t feel that so keenly and individually.  It is the energy (vibration, maybe?) of the collection of a lot of objects that feels like a wave of something that hits me square in the chest, and makes it difficult to breathe.  Like, I don’t have enough space to find the air in the room.  I’ve always felt “thing energy” quite keenly and am just realizing that my desire for an echoing room is to give myself more creativity and openness.  When I go into a crowded grocery store, I feel overwhelmed by the “stuff;” the same is true in a crowded Department store or anywhere there is a large accumulation of stuff.  I quickly leave the space, feeling claustrophobic and just a sense of overwhelm.  I noticed that I feel a bit like that in my office space, too, which has lead me to really take a critical look at the lack of organization in my office and the idea of the reset was born.

In my experiment and with a mind to my planned office reset, I began to wonder if having my things organized – or put away – tempers the feeling.  Like, if I did not have a china cabinet with glass doors but a buffet with solid wood doors, would the feeling be different because I could not visually “see” all of my things? Hmmm.  I’m not sure.  However, I am going to try an experiment this week on resetting my home office to see if removing and organizing my personal clutter will help me to be more creative and have less stress sitting at my desk.  I plan to remove all of the stuff in my office: desks, computers, chairs, printers, etc. and then place these back with a little more thought as to my desired minimalist aesthetic and concentrating on storage/organization with the goal of a clean desk.  I’d also like to create an area where I do my “work” and an area where I can be “creative.”  Right now, I see these as two distinctly different areas in my room; I wonder if I can change that based on removing or rearranging my stuff.  I’ve decided to also follow this particular YouTuber’s tips; her videos and delivery inspired me to also follow these guidelines.  I’m a new subscriber to her channel and look forward to learning more.  Here are some of her tips that I plan to follow:

1.) Figure out how much time you have and how much time it will take.

I’ve taken a week off of work so that I can separate this into some very doable tasks.  My first task will be to remove everything from the surface that is not heavy furniture.  This includes mail, inboxes, books, pen holders/containers, books (there are a lot of them!), and computer bags and accessories.  In applying the four principles, however, I realized that in order for me to apply #2, below, I need to begin in my guest bedroom to ensure that I have sufficient ability to clear out my office.  (Right now, my guest bedroom closet is spilling out onto the floor.  Dynasty-Dynasty-TV-Series-014It is filled with old formal wear that no longer fits, concert t-shirts from the 80s, empty hangers, and all of my holiday decorations.  It is time to clear that close because if my green blazer ever fit again, the shoulder pads would rival Joan Collins’ best day and, frankly, I’d never wear the jacket anyway unless it was Halloween and I was revisiting 40 years of history.)  Yes, my personal clutter has gotten so bad that in order to clear out an entire room of my house, I need to clear a place to put the stuff out of the way.) So, before I can even work on the office, I plan to de-clutter my guest bedroom closet first which, having done my own closet years ago, should be relatively straight-forward.  Once my guest bedroom closet is straightened up, I plan to then begin my office de-clutter.  (Now you know why I planned a full week for this.)

As I put things back into the office, I will then consider if I want to keep the item, addressing what purpose the item serves, and ensuring everything has its own place.  If the item does not have a place, then it is not needed and will be thanked for its service, and discarded or donated.  This allows me to get the office down to the walls and carpeting, and really get a feel for the office while also honoring the vibration of my “things.”

2.) Minimize distractions.

This will be difficult for me because moving and decluttering create their own “rabbit holes” of memories.  I like Nourishing Mom‘s idea of the “to put away” box which helps to keep me focused on the task and not going into another room to then work in that room.  However, because I realized that I will need to make room in my guest bedroom to temporarily move things from the study, I’ll need to separate this into two projects because I will find myself overwhelmed with now having two rooms to declutter.  flea-market-343123__340I’m already expecting that I will need to purchase cabinets and/or organizational tools to help me better place my things.  Before I just go out willy-nilly to purchase something, I want to be really sure on where it is, what it is, and how I will use it.  (See #4.)

3) Its going to take more than one pass.

I totally agree with the idea that both my guest bedroom closet and my office will need a few passes of critical assessment because after a while of making the hard decisions to relieve one of clutter, I can and do become a bit more emotional.  In the cleaning of my personal closet, it has taken me quite a few passes and, unfortunately, I did not pay attention to tip #4 below and have created a new mess for myself in my closet.  My closet organization is not as bad as before but can get there if I don’t soon intervene.

4) Avoid recreational shopping.

I realize now that I shopped out of boredom or wanting a new experience of buying a thing.  What I was looking for was a panacea of sorts, a relief from my mental burden where I stifled my creativity.  This is a lesson from the Pandemic that I’ve learned and wish to correct.  I used to enjoy shopping and would purchase anything I wanted because I could – even if I really couldn’t.  This created a poor habit of addressing my own mental discomfort through the purchase of a new dress or lipstick instead of addressing the real source of my unrest.  My shopping over the past 18 months has become very specific because a weekly excursion to the mall just wasn’t part of anyone’s plan.  The allowed me to see just how I’ve “coped” throughout my life, and be able to feel better by addressing the real issue.

That’s the plan for my office reset or starting over.  In researching the “how to” of my project, I found Joshua Becker’s channel quite helpful, too, and found that I already do many of his tips in this video.  This made me feel a bit better about my starting point and helped me to see that I can continue to improve.  I’m very curious to see that, if after I’ve completed my project, if I’ll feel different about sitting in the space, or if I’ll need to move my office into my foyer! I’m intrigued because of the idea that we are all energy fields that can be manipulated, including objects that would appear to be solid.  Every object in our world vibrates at different rates which creates their form.  There are millions of possibilities depending on the object, placement, temperature…the combinations are endless and miraculous, aren’t they?  When you think about the world at large, with all of the people, places, and things, the world is vibrating all around us.  How can you not feel overwhelmed at times?  Wishing you peace this July 4th.

[EDIT: And, as if the world is blessing this post, one of my favorite O.G. YouTubers, Renee Amberg, just posted this video.  I love Renee’s videos as they show her transitions and struggles which make me feel less alone in my own journey.  She discusses all things very honestly, openly and does not sugar-coat her experiences.  Definitely worth the watch just for the inspiration alone.]

Keto Update: For those of you keeping up with all things Keto, I’m still doing well.  Seeing some improvement on my psoriasis and my weight is stable.  It is going up and down since my carbohydrate restriction isn’t as low as I’d like it to be.  I’m under 100 carbs a day – usually around 50.  This works for my “right now” time as I continue to adjust.  I’m learning that there are some foods, while lower in carbohydrates, are not good for me to have in the house.  Dr. Atkin’s bars are something other worldly delicious and I’m not to be trusted with them. Yet.  In all things, there is progress.

 

Lessons from 2021 – January

capitol-281123__480This is a new series I will be starting as a reflection of the month that just passed.  I do so much living in my head with all of my best and worst memories keeping me company.  Instead of just keeping them all company myself, you, Dear Reader, will be pleased to hear that I would prefer to leave the past back in my rear view mirror.  Like many of you, we can do so much living in our memories that these experiences color our perspective of today.  Today cannot be compared to anything: past or future.  Sort of like, living in the present without the noose of the past, looking forward to what will be. (I highly recommend it.)

We made it through the first month of 2021 and many of us are already writing the year off and wishing for 2022 already.  During the first week of January – January 6th precisely – an attempted “coup d’état”  or a “coup” for short was had on the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.  For those of you who don’t believe that the definition applies, check the dictionary at the link to the word. I’ll wait until you come back. 

<Cue Jeopardy music.>

This “coup” was beyond a shadow of a doubt instigated by the sitting “president” of our country.  I quote the title because I’ve never seen less presidential behavior and we’ve gone through the gamut of behaviors.  The lesson, however, has been a deep one for me on how to handle adversity or disagreements – and what NOT to do.  Many times, this lesson of what not to do is actually more important than following someone’s example.  This realization gives one a viewpoint of the choice we all have during these moments of extreme emotion; a bit of a “step back” to really “see” the situation without emotions or without a “dog in the race” so to speak.  I think that  “stepping back” is my mantra for 2021.  The examination of life, today, versus what life was like at any past time is a comparison.  There are no emotions in the comparison if one just observes as if from the heavens, or “above it all.” (I like that saying because it just is a different perspective.  If you think that the term “above it all” is triggering, that may be something you can examine to help you.

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If we accept that what is in our “present” moment is truly all we can expect of ourselves, and that all is okay, how does that make you feel?  Better? Worse?  There is no right or wrong answer with feelings for they are just little tidbit indicators to us on our perspective.  It is the higher expectations that cannot be fulfilled that can create a feeling of defeat…or help me to adjust my expectations to something that feels better.  If you feel a sense of frustration, that is a cue to stop and examine why.  Frustration is our own internal barometer of our expectations.  Many of us feel frustrated as a response to something unknown or uncomfortable.  Our frustration, however, can be based on the expecation of our own personal performance…or a perception of a lack of performance.  We can see this in almost every aspect of life and we’ve never really been taught how to handle frustration in a constructive manner. Work, play…it is always there.  

Take my goal setting, circa 2020.  Last year, I began my normal “Cultivate What Matters” exercise.  I’ve found this tool extremely helpful in the past two years.  However, for 2020, everything just fell apart by March and my life was and continues to be barely recognizable to what was in February 2020.  My lack of control for anything really pressed me so much so that my “Cultivate What Matters” effort became very basic: Survival.  In March, I had planned to visit my family in Florida and, now, it has been almost two years since I’ve seen my mother and sister.  (The thought brings me to tears as I write this.) I have also been unable to see any of my husband’s family as they are over two hours away and the journey would require that we stop for a bathroom break which may be unavailable.  Then, we’d only be able to look at each other and the feeling of wanting a hug or touch would be overwhelming.  All of my relationships, friendships, and any plans I may have had were flushed down the toilet by the beginning of April 2020.

Boy, was I frustrated which resulted in a spiral of depression.  I realized about September – yes, I ruminated that long – that I can dwell on what I cannot change, become miserable and a crying blob, or I can focus on what is: The choice is mine.  Either is OK and each just gives me different living experiences.  Not good, not bad; these are valuations or judgments.  The experience is just different.  Last year, I chose the totally scrap my CWM and figure the BIG PICTURE of just how to survive.  Setting goals like finding an exercise class or art class were out if the gyms are shuttered and art classes cancelled.  Rather than crying over the spilled milk, I cleaned up the spill and poured another glass. Done.  What I’ve learned from the experience has helped me to grow in new ways – ways that I would have never been able to access pre-Pandemic.  I’ve been able to peel back the “onion” of my life with each layer resulting in my returning to memories for comfort.  In that rumination, I’ve been able to correct some judgments and to learn from the experiences as an adult.

During this process, I recognized that I had absolutely and unequivocably no control over anything outside of my response or reaction to life and living.   How I viewed the situation – or my perspective of the situation – would create the feeling of that situation for perspectiveme in my world, today.  My past experiences created judgments in me that I applied to the current day so, in effect, my life in the present was based on the judgments of my past.  If my judgments were “off” as, I imagine, is quite common with children having more “adult” experiences, how would these judgments impact my perspective for today’s world?  Dear Reader, it is simply this: I found I was using my prior experience to judge today and I was creating limitations for myself on what I thought was the limit – and not the true limit – for there are no limits except those that we assert on ourselves.

For a survival situation, the ability to make a quick and correct decision may be the difference between life or death.  Deciding on a can of vegetables in the grocery store tomatoes-1611589__480clearly is not “life or death” unless one is in The Last of Us, Part II, of course were a can of peas is a Godsend.   (Oh, such a great game, too! Don’t get me started. ) I’m seeing more clearly and I use my own self perception a bit differently.  Yes, I said “Use my own self” because I’ve realized that there is a lot more to me than this carbon based lifeform I currently occupy.  Resourceful ways. Exciting ways.  It is how we think of things that determines our perception.  Period.

Let me give you a real life example and you tell me which mental construct “feels” better to you.

Toby - with his favorite toys
Photo taken by Author

This is my dog, Toby.  He was adopted from a rescue shelter about eleven years ago.  He is 12-1/2 and is in good health.  There were a few points, though, where he almost died due to a genetic disposition to make bladder stones.  This happens in some Dalmatians, and Toby is one of these dogs.  We were twice given a choice: Surgery or die.  This was very traumatic for us as he is our baby and, like all animal parents, you feel like this little animal, who trusts you and depends on you, is relying on your decision-making skills.  His eating habits are very odd because of complications from these surgeries which resulted in poorly managed stomach acid during the his first surgery that scarred his esophagus making eating solid foods very difficult.  His esophagus narrowed so he is now on a mushy or liquid diet which takes some preparation.  This will probably be for the rest of his life.  It took us years to realize this because he cannot tell us what is happening!  Poor thing.  He is doing better and has a very strict diet that involves liquidizing or grinding his meals.  Given my work schedule and commute, my husband had the chore of feeding Toby twice a day and to give him his medicines to help manage the stomach acid.  With my working full-time at home now, I have taken over feeding him breakfast and his early morning medications, which is probably one of the highlights of my day.  Why?

It wasn’t always like this.  Due to the preparation, feeding Toby felt like a burden.  As I was preparing his breakfast one morning and felt that feeling of negativity – the burden – wash into me, I asked myself a question:  Is feeding Toby really a burden? Or, are you just used to feeling that way when you have something that is difficult to do?  That also got me thinking about the different energies and how a burden feels as opposed to a privilege.  Does my negative energy drift into the food I was preparing for my loyal and trusting canine? Oh, the thought of that really made me stop and realize that I get the opportunity to care for this little creature whose big brown eyes look at me in patient anticipation.  How could I ever think my sweet boy was a burden for me? I began to see my feeding him as the privilege it is – many people would have not been able to care for him.  He (and us) were so lucky to have him in our lives.  We have not had a proper vacation in many years as our boy cannot be boarded with such serious medical issues.  And, do you know something, both my husband and I believe ourselves blessed to care for him.

street-sign-141361__480Perspective – in our news and our lives – is so important to maintain.  When something doesn’t feel right to you, it helps to distance yourself and examine the situation without emotion, without judgment, and just be within the feeling.  I’m currently working through the idea of resistance and how the resistance to the feeling actually magnifies the situation.  I’ve come to also realize that how someone else “feels” is not really my business but their own.  If feelings are to help shape perspective, who am I to deny you, Dear Reader, the ability to shape your own world just how you’d like it to be…for you.

What an incredible January!  Peace.

 

Jedi Mindset for 2021…and Beyond

Caution: If you are planning to watch “The Mandalorian” don’t read any further unless you want to hear of a major plot spoiler.  You’ve been warned.

During the Pandemic, I’ve been able to complete a lot more studying of different subjects.  Many of these subjects involve some aspect of the human condition or mental accuity.  I’m in the middle of listening to The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer as a book recommendation from a work colleague who shares an interest in all things leadership and human potential.  [This is a book I’ll need to buy for my library as highlighting an audiobook doesn’t work too well for me. 🙂 ] I highly recommend this book for additional reading for anyone interested in a better understanding of the composition of the universe and their higher power – or “the Force.”

I’ve long been a believer of “the Force” but not as described by the Star Wars books where it can be directly manipulated to such a degree….I wish.  (Can you imagine the fun you’d have?) No, this “Force” is our mindset or perspective.  It is the feeling we have within ourselves when we don’t know the feeling.  The Untethered Soul discusses this in great detail.  Singer has also written a book called The Surrender Experiment which will be the next book in my collection.  A very good interview with Singer and Tami Simon of SoundsTrue can be found on YouTube which discusses both of his books.  In fact, Singer has shared his information very freely and there are many interviews of note that provide very different aspects of what Singer means by an untethered soul and surrendering.  I believe that it is our life’s journey to work within The Force, to live our life as we intend; it is what happens that creates new opportunities for learning more about “The Force.”  For example, if you believe that there is no coincidence in life, then the daily activities that encompass what we consider as “life happenings” would have no meaning.  Like finding out that we avoided a car accident by taking a left turn at a light earlier than you normally do.  Coincidence? Perhaps.  Maybe not.  Think about these life coincidences this way:  What if these life happenings are happening FOR us, not TO us?  Did you notice that the feeling with each thought is different?  Sit with this for a while and really think on this: How would you respond if you believed that life is happening FOR you for a greater purpose?  Wouldn’t some of these happenings, then, have a different context? I like the correlation of how “for us” and “the Force” sound so much alike.  Hmmm.

floral-309762_1280As I began to contemplate the “for me” aspect to my life, I began to journal and this helped me to get my thoughts out of my head and on to paper.  Since I am a visual person, I’ve learned that writing things down when I’m bothered or when I have an important decision to make really helps clarify my thinking.  I guess “seeing is believing” holds true in this aspect of mentagility, too.  I’ve realized that everything in my life has happened for me to learn and respond to…there is no emotion that would need to be included here although I have certainly spiced my life with all kinds of emotions – good, bad, and everything in between.  We all have done this, haven’t we?  It is how we are taught to live our lives – or it is the lack of teaching at a young age that is now requiring correction as an adult.  I cannot imagine what my life would look like now had I learned this at age 16 when first presented with these aspects of myself.  I was unready for such knowledge as this greater understanding only comes after years of experience for the knowledge to really sink in.  About two years ago, I heard the other voice that Singer describes and was startled at the realization of the voice in my head…and what it was saying that kept me so small. I wrote an entire blog post of the experience, too, without knowing just what happened and have an understanding of what this event meant to me and my future.

Cue to The Mandalorian.  I love all things Star Wars, Marvel, DC, anything fantastical with powers. Maybe it was my desire to overcome a bullying childhood?  I’m not sure but one area I’ve always loved is how Luke Skywalker used the Force to fight the evil Empire.  Now that the Empire is sort of in the back seat for the Republic (Is evil really ever gone from the world?), my husband and I began watching The Mandalorian a few weeks ago…and already finished the two seasons in about a week.  This is a record viewing for us as we normally take our time between watching television and video gaming, playing all types of immersive games.  So to watch two seasons in a week had us set aside our normal gaming time.  All of the enemies in The Last of Us, Part II get a reprieve. (BTW, finished that game just yesterday.  What a thrill of both shock, horror, and of overcoming odds!)

Our tale opens with the Mandalorian character struggling between the new world order and the ways of his people from the planet, Mandalore.  The main character is Din Djarin who plays most of the series with his armor and helmet protection as is custom for Mandalorians.  He finds a creature that is childlike and is considered a bounty for some of the Empire evil-doers.  Djarin – as The Mandalorian – fights to return the creature to his own people and it is Djarin’s struggle for his version of “right and wrong” that we view in each episode.  In the final scene of the second season, with all of the characters in the Control Room of the Empire’s ship with Moff Gideon‘s Death Troopers pounding the door in – and making this a good effort, too – a lonely X-Wing fighter comes and lands in the ship.  The characters in the Control Room see this “help” as insufficient because there is only one ship and dozens of these Death Troopers (which were really scary). The X-Wing’s entry actually brought a stop to the attempts to break in the door as these Death Troopers turned their full attention to the new arrival.  Just who is coming to help? These evil killing machines all turned to attention and awaited the arrival of the single occupant aboard the ship.

starwars-2020629_1280

Our rescuer has the posture of a Jedi, cloaked in black, and is really handling the light saber like an expert.  Still and confident, the Jedi strides through this ship making quick work of an entire platoon of Death Troopers without even the appearance of a struggle.  (I’m conversely cheering and crying about now, hoping that my “friends” in the Control Room are saved through some miracle.) The lone occupant, wielding a light saber, expertly deals with these soldiers who just drop at the slash of a saber or the sudden crushing movement of large containers.  (Prior to this, we witnessed the Mandalorian and all of his comrades fighting a losing battle against the Death Troopers so this was such a relief!)  After handling the squad, the Jedi waits at the door for the Control Room occupants to release the lock.  In the meantime, Moff Gideon, played by the unbelievably talented Giancarlo Esposito, realizes just who may be at the door for his eyes widen and he becomes visibly shaken.  Gideon, who covertly moved his robes to hide a dropped weapon from the previous battle, takes this hidden gun out to quickly try and commit suicide.  Gideon would rather kill himself that realize his fate at what awaits in the dark Jedi robes.  Watching Gideon’s face as he sees the Jedi striding towards them, and seeing the realization of just who is approaching, is such a beautiful piece of acting that I’m going to link this here.  Giancarlo Esposito is one of my favorite actors.  Who can forget his masterful work in “Breaking Bad”?  Esposito truly plays complex and dark characters as if he was truly evil.  He isn’t and I digress but, if I ever meet Mr. Esposito in person, I will still be very, very cautious. (Yikes!)

Back to our story.  The Control Room door opens.  Dramatically, the black robed and hooded igure steps in the room to remove his cloak hood and reveal himself as Luke Skywalker – a young Luke Skywalker.  Oh…how my heart just skipped a beat watching the Luke Skywalker of my childhood engage with The Mandalorian’s crew.  What a fulfilling ending to this season!  I’ve watched the end scene three times now and will probably watch it a few more times.  There are certain scenes in movies and television shows that are so iconic, they must be watched a few times to be fully absorbed.  Remember the final blow to the Empire in Star Wars?  Or, the iconic final dance number in Dirty Dancing with Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey.  Swayze’s character utters the famous line that “nobody puts Baby into a corner” is just repeated on its own and most folks know the reference.  (That is, most folks my age but I digress.  You get my point. Oh, and for those of you keeping track, I had a fine time rewatching that Dirty Dancing scene again for this post.)

This final scene from Season Two of The Mandalorian was one of those scenes I had to rewatch but not necessarily only for the obvious reason.  Oh, yes, the scene was an exciting one for fans of the Star Wars saga.  What impressed me was that the Jedi never went looking for the fight; he/she let the fight come to him/her.  When the fight reared its arms to punch, the Jedi dodged to the opposite side to avoid the punch which put him in a better position to duck and shift his weight to combat from the opposite side.  In other words, the Jedi waited for the other to be the aggressor so he could respond to the action in a way that was not reactive but responsive.  When the aggressor Death Trooper hit left, the Jedi gave way to give him access to the open spot that the Death Trooper made through it’s aggression.  Perhaps one could say that he waited for his opponent to make their first move before he responded.

Waiting for an action where clear response is necessary is the key to many of life’s challenges.  If you believe that you control your destiny, you will always be striving to get ahead of what appears to be “bad.”  “Bad” is emphasized here because that is a judgment based on one’s values to “bad” to me is not necessarily “bad” to someone else.  We’ve heard the saying to wanting to “get ahead” of the situation; I use this term quite often in my daily life.  Many times, “getting ahead” means identifying the common root cause of an event to be able to prevent the event or the resulting response from said event.  As humans, we may be actually doing this on the regular without the realization that, if we just let life flow a bit, we may ride the situation a while to find out a very different alternative.  This “flow” is an energy that we interpret as thoughts, emotions, feelings, or any other more esoteric energy.  Many times, the interpretation is based on our own frequency of where we are at the present moment.  Like, if you are frustrated, you may only see those things that are frustrating you because the energy matches the frustration.  This is how the power of positive thinking is derived.  Think positively and you’ll only notice the positivity.  If we only knew that what we surround ourselves with and immerse ourselves in each day may “set” this frequency and you don’t even understand that this is happening.  We may have been taught that these energies are external from us, that are happening to us.

What if these events are happening FOR us?

Would we be so quick to try and control these events?

I began to realize that life is happening FOR me is an easier way of living – for me.  I emphasize the “for me” because I believe each of us needs to find our own approach.  Living with the realization that life is happening FOR me is such a relief that I have been working to see this in all aspects of my life.  The “FOR ME” gives me a feeling of an observer which takes all of my emotion and thinking outside of myself.  So, today is the beginning of February and many of us here in the northeast are planning to hunker down due to inclement weather.  What if this is happening FOR me? What can I do to make this belief be my normal energy?  More on this in our next discussion.  For February, stay warm, enjoy your cocoa, and be thankful for your blessings.  In life, it is ALL a blessing.  Peace and prospertity to you all.

Happy New Year

It is already January 3, 2021, and time is just flying by.  Right.  Having the New Year fall on a Friday made this seem like an extra long weekend.  I love that feeling, that I don’t have to go to my desk to work but can just do anything I desire.  That feeling of having the world at your feet is a fearful one, don’t you think?  Like, we have all of the possibilities at our finger tips so why don’t we just extend the reach a bit more?  Are we afraid that our hands will be cut off, or….are we afraid that we’ll reach that last bit that tortured us only to find that the work was not worth the effort?

I think the latter thought is more common.  Sadly, we fail to see the journey for the wonderful ups and downs of experience of the end was not our expectation.  I see this on Chopped which is a cooking competition on the Food Network channel.  As a person who has a love/hate relationship with cooking, I really enjoy watching the show because of the obscure ingredients and comments on flavors.  During the Pandemic, I’ve been doing a really bang up job of cooking all of our meals.  Not a self-boast, just reiterating a comment.  I’ve been doing my cooking in a toaster oven because our oven broke before the Pandemic and we could not decide what to buy without remodeling our entire kitchen.  (Believe you me, the kitchen does need a facelift.) So, I’ve been using the stove top for that type of cooking…and a toaster oven for baking.  We are on the second one, having about used up the prior toaster oven.  I’m using a Breville now – hands down, the best toaster oven we could find.  The cooking in a toaster oven for ten months now wasn’t anything I even thought of…until I really looked back and saw the accomplishment.  The end – or the cooked product – was not the joy but that I could make some things so delicious through my Breville was amazing to me.  The journey, then, WAS the experience, not the perfectly cooked Christmas roast.  (OMG! It was amazing with a new herbal rub, too!)  With Chopped, I enjoy watching those who did not move on to the next round.  (Notice how I didn’t say lost here?  That is key.) The reactions are so varied that they say a lot about the person.  One man discussed how this just wasn’t his time to win but he enjoyed cooking for the top chefs and how meeting new people and, especially, these captains of his industry, was so exciting.  His enjoyment of the time spent in the Chopped Kitchen was not minimalized by the result of coming in second runner up.  Contrast this to a more recent episode where the chef eliminated in the first round discussed how lousy he was.  Hey, Buddy, YOU WERE ON CHOPPED!  You met some really great – possible – connections to build a future!  Did you fail to see that your losing was just a random result?  So, you determine how well you did by some peoples’ opinions and that is all she wrote?

We are all winning and losing each day.  It is the grace of how we handle the victory and defeat which then determines the next adventure.  Even in winning the competition, there must be humility and grace.  There is a respect we must have for those brave enough to enter the competion, show up, and do their best.  This is true in life, too.  If this subject interests you, YouTube has a whole world of discussion in this area of self-help.  One of my favorites is Eckhart Tolle, and you’ll find an interesting discussion from him HERE.  Many times, we may just see the railing and believe that is all there is.  Don’t be afraid to ask for a box to stand on so that you can see the view.  Enjoy and make it a good day, without expectations of how things should be.