basic kinda stuff

if you're hoppin' over here on wednesdays looking for those guest posts
from my series 'the people around me' - well.....i don't have any more.

grinnin' at ya.

i'm sure some will trickle thru as we go along here, and i'll post them as i get them.
i asked a lotta people but busy lives, freaky questions, and just general overwhelm
can slow the process down. so for now, it's me postin' the blog.

and speaking of overwhelm -
i was a bit on overwhelm this morning.

there's a ton happening in my world.
i'm usually pretty energetic and can keep up with a lot.
but when it hits 'a ton'  i start to get stressed.

okay.
this is good.
cause i've been wanting to watch my stress.
i've been wanting to focus on what matters.
hold the gratitude.

and there i was moving as fast as i could back and forth with
the lawn mower, tryin' to beat the rain and thinking i didn't have
enough time to do everything i needed.

and i could feel it.
all the agitated craze i get when it gets too busy.

and i could see the other stuff faded away - like gratitude.

i mowed and grumbled about time to myself.
and i caught it.
and i told myself 'you're not stopping mowing until you can find
the gratitude again.'

how's that for a practical ultimatum?

strangely enough tho, it worked.

i really didn't want to mow any longer than i had to,
and i really did want to find the gratitude.
so i kept moving at a fast clip and tried to tune in to what matters.

sometimes that's harder than others.
but i've been on a roll lately, feeling really grateful,
and i was doin' some physical movin' around, i think that helped too.

whatever it was, i was able to find it again.
and i told myself to let the time thing go.

i did and got back into a good place.

but i did take note of a few things -

one - i saw what i wanted to focus on wasn't happening.
i saw i was turning away from what i wanted and toward something
i didn't want. i want to keep that kinda awareness goin'. i want to
notice more often when i do that.

i think i was able to get back the gratitude because i had been there
for awhile now. i want to keep an eye on that too. you know how
we just quietly and ever so gently slip out of gratitude and then don't know how
we'll ever find it again? well, while i think that will always happen from time to time,
i think the more aware i am, the better it'll go.

and i'm pretty sure the physical work and exercise i've been doin' lately
has made a huge difference for me.

so why is that so hard to keep up?
jeesh.

payin' attention and doin' the healthy stuff -
kinda basic.
and something i need reminding of over and over again.

p.s.- i beat the rain, the lawn is mowed and i'm in here typing as it rains.
feelin' way grateful it held off for me!