August 13, 2016: The Perfect Morning

My current view
My mom has been in town this week. The last time I saw her was on a visit to Arizona while I was taking a time off from my work life. Now months later and with me fully back on the work treadmill, I found myself making a comment to her on more than one occasion.

"Mom, I am so busy. How did I let this happen again?"

I swore myself to a more serene lifestyle after smelling the roses during my months off of work. Instead I have found myself shuffling calendar entries and running from back-to-back engagements and meetings. Although I have been wildly successful in my quest to work with the right people on the right projects, I've somehow left out the balance of leaving some time for myself.

Sometimes ones self is the best study of human nature. I have come to realize that what was good for me 20 years ago is different now. What I desire for daily personal time and replenishment of energy is much different today. I will rack that up to age and human experience.

What I know now...

I need more sleep and thoughtful meditation to be on my game. This is a daily need. Not a 'catch-up' later.

I also need more down time for those simple things in life that bring me pleasure. Writing is one of them. Building relationships is another. Whether sharing a blog post or enjoying life with my family and friends, these are things that fill my bucket and balance my days.

And then there are the little routines that are very individual to me, but are....oh, so satisfying.

The picture above expresses one of these guilty pleasures. Enjoying the start of my day with a cup of coffee in bed, a cuddling dog next to me, and a catch up on what is going on in the world via my favorite forms of electronic media. All without a sound in the house and my favorite vision of a window to the world of what awaits me outside.

Somehow with my new busy schedule, this little routine had completely exited my life. Although not an every-day occurrence, as I do enjoy my early morning runs with friends and coffees with colleagues; I have found that never having this morning 'me time' has been greatly missed.

And did I mention that when home, my husband makes me this cherished cup of coffee? A sweet wake up call and a daily act of kindness as he would go about the perfect start of his morning (which does not include reading in bed, by the way) while leaving me the peace of my early morning.

Today I re-captured my perfect morning. A cup of coffee. Update on the important news from the day before, national from CNN and friends on FaceBook and Instagram, as I see them as equally important. Some fiction reading and some non-fiction reading. Electronic exchanges with friends and family. No husband here to bring me my coffee, but he was only a few text messages and emoji's away from being a part of my happy morning existence.

Now I look out the window for my morning weather check after checking Yahoo Weather and any updates from my favorite FaceBook weatherman.

The American flag on my flagpole is barely fluttering. A perfect morning for a bike ride. Now I am ready to start the day.

And as for my mom's response this week to my whining on being too busy and not having time for myself...

"Sandy, only you can change that."

Always a wise woman.
xoxox





 

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