HeyMonicaB

I would never call myself “zen.” In fact, I’m pretty far from it (ask anyone who knows me). BUT! I do have a tool of sanity that I use quite often. I practice a lot and I’m getting better at it. It saves me from filling with anxiety or hanging onto stabbing pains of grief. It lifts me from sorrow and relieves me from being a complete stress ball (I have loosely tied stress, but it’s not a ball).

Over the past two weeks I have encountered several complaints from friends about how they feel and it all relates to not staying present. A friend was afraid of being hurt when dating a new guy, so she decided not to act like herself. Another friend has kept herself so busy with her own business that she hasn’t had a weekend for herself in 5 years! Another friend emailed me today who expressed overall sadness and she’s not sure why.

My guess is this. We are so in our heads about the “what-ifs” in worrying about the future, that we FORGET to live right now. Right here, right now (Jesus Jones. Aw, come on! You know you were thinkin it…) is all that matters because the past is gone and the future hasn’t happened yet. We can create this turmoil by chasing large goals and forgetting about today. Or maybe we worry so much about having a failing relationship, that we don’t let it begin. Maybe we can’t let go of the past and we punish ourselves by reliving old arguments or experiences.

Stay here. Take a breath. Look around. Are you safe? Are you warm? Everything seems ok? Ok. Then you can manage it. One little step at a time and stay here. Enjoy the peace of what is now.

My worklife (day job) has changed so much in the past two days, it’s staggering (or comical). But all I can do is what I can do. I am not going to spend my time and energy in a panic worrying about the future. Nor am I going to spend my time and energy reminiscing about what used to be and how great it was. Why bother? None of those things exist. So, I stay neatly in place and carry on. And I find that amongst all the crazy change, I remain quite happy.

So look at your world. What do you really have to worry about? And what is made up? When you are stressed, anxious, or depressed, ask yourself if it’s because of something happening right NOW or is your mind causing your own stress?

Live in the now. And like the Brits said on the WWII poster below, “Keep Calm and Carry On.” xoxoxo