om monday: reason for the season

with the holidays just around the corner, it's easy to feel a bit overwhelmed by our (endless) to-do lists.  buy presents, get the tree, decorate the house, wrap the gifts, attend holiday gatherings, and...oh yeah...enjoy the season.  but the truth is our to-do lists don't define us or our experience of this time of year.

"we're the creators of our own experience - remembering this, and living our lives from this perspective, empowers us."  - mike robbins

we have a choice in all of this, believe it or not.  we can allow our obligations to get the best of us and suck the fun out of this magical time of year, or we can choose to shift our experience.  easier said than done, i know.  but the first step is recognition.  in that moment when you're mind is reeling, and you're feeling like you'd rather check-out than tackle your next obligation, just pause.  take a deep breathe and notice where the "pressure" to get all those to-dos done is coming from.  my guess is that it's not from your boss or spouse or friends, but, at least in my case, it's self-imposed.  an arbitrary standard for "success" that i've set and now much live up to.

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i encourage you all to pause.  take a deep breathe, and really reflect upon how you want to experience this holiday season.  because, when it comes down to it, you're the one holding the reigns.

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"fake" flowers

this morning after yoga, i was walking to the ladies' locker room and spotted some brightly colored fake flowers in a vase on the desk.  i quietly thought to myself "how tacky".  they seemed very out of place and not something my relatively "classy" gym would put out.  judgement.

as i drew closer, i realized they were not fake at all.  those brilliantly bright colors belonged to very real flowers.  my opinion of the bouquet instantly shifted from "tacky" to "stunning".

as i admired the (now) lovely display, it made me wonder what other things in my life i judge too quickly and too harshly.  with preconceived notions, we can totally miss the innate beauty of something that is right in front of us.

so, mavens, before you judge, observe.  and see if you can grasp the true essence of something before you form your opinions.  the "fake" flowers transformed into something breath-taking when i just took the time to look..

wild fires

when craig and i went down to north carolina last week, we flew over wild fires.  at 10:30pm at night, as we were beginning our descent into wilmington, we gazed out the window and were confused by what we saw.  patches of fiery orange amongst the trees.  we speculated about what it might be.  craig suggested wild fires.

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when we landed, we found out that a few hours north, there were indeed wild fires, and the smoke was being blown down the coast to where we were staying on oak island.

while meditating at the end of yoga class today, i remembered the wild fires and a thought struck me.  from that great distance above, they were not threatening or ferocious or hot.  they were mystifying...almost beautiful.

had we been on the ground anywhere near them, it would have been all-consuming.  heat and fear.  terrifying.  yet, from above, they looked rather small, contained & manageable.  not that scary at all.

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it made me consider other "wild fires" in my life.  problems, events or thoughts that appear all-consuming and terrifying, yet, given a new perspective, diminish into a small patch of glowing orange. 

what wild fires can you rise above today?.