When was the last time you pressed pause? Just stopped to breathe for air and really settled into the moment to take a peek around at what’s really going on?
Being busy is an affliction for all sexes, but I feel that it really impacts mothers most. After all, you have the biggest excuse of us all because you are literally charged with taking care of another human being (or more than one). There’s people running their own businesses, and sometimes the roles we play occupy more than one category.
Taking those precious moments out to stop, and breathe, and remember the moment itself, and our own aliveness–these do not necessarily make the high list of priorities in a life that’s busy.
But what are you really looking for in all those activities?
A client and I were speaking about feeling at home within yourself – in those moments where you’re happy for no reason. Have you ever felt happy for no reason? Maybe your circumstances are even crumbling a little, but a moment somehow steals your attention, and for that moment you connect, you’re happy, for no reason.
This client realised that she’s been busy for 4 years renovating, redesigning, and redecorating her house. And yet she said how it felt like a house, not a home. “It’s just a house.” Feeling like you’re at home within means feeling truly at home within your own skin, whether you’ve created what feels like a home of a house for yourself or not. It means feeling at home no matter where you are or who you are with.
I believe that we are have the opportunity to take the journey home within our selves–and if you’re here on Tiny Buddha, chances are you may have already started that journey. But part of everyone’s journey is experiencing the opposite of that sense of home.
For many years I was looking for things that I believed would give me a sense of home within. I was busy working hard to build a career, and financial security, dating–trying to find the romantic relationship–and assemble together all the pieces of what the puzzle picture of my perfect life would look like–then I would be happy. I was very busy being very busy. And in being busy assembling this idea of happiness, I was really looking for love.
But I was looking for love in all the wrong places.
The trouble with looking for love in the way you live your life is that it’s all temporary. And it’s like that house–it’s just an empty shell. If you, the true you of your heart–isn’t occupying the house with your whole being, it’s just a half hearted-house, isn’t it?
You may find that you’re building your life, but when your heart isn’t in something, you experience life like a shell, it’s empty on the inside.
Identity Magazine is all about empowering women to get all A’s in the game of life — Accept. Appreciate. Achieve.TM Every contributor and expert answer the Identity 5 questions in keeping with our theme. Their answers can be random and in the moment or they can be aligned with the above article. As a team, we hope to inspire and motivate ourselves and inspire you to get all A’s.
1. What have you accepted within your life, physically and/or mentally? What are you still working on accepting?
Myself. Little by little I’ve learned to see my self through the eyes of love and find the perfection of life by embracing my humanity. I’ve accepting that everything I’ve experienced in my life has supported me to expand into my truth.
2. What have you learn to appreciate about yourself and/or within your life, physically and mentally? What are you still working on to appreciate?
I appreciate that no matter what challenges I’ve faced, I’ve decided to take the road less traveled and appreciate everything that has ever happened in my life because every event has brought me to exploring the aliveness of life itself.
3. What is one of your most rewarding achievements in life? What makes YOU most proud? What goals and dreams do you still have?
When I first left my corporate job, it was my most rewarding achievement because I was so afraid of leaving the security I believed it gave me (at the time) and so taking that leap led me to a path of becoming an entrepreneur and following my heart wherever it may lead.
My biggest goal right now is finish a book I’ve been writing.
4. We all have imperfections, so we think. The truth–we are all perfectly imperfect. What are your not-so-perfect ways? What imperfections and quirks create who you are–your Identity?
I don’t believe in a “not-so-perfect-way” because everything can be turned into a life lesson. However, I sometimes do the opposite of what may be perceived to be “the right thing to do” that I have a judgment for. i.e. If I have judgment for licking my fingers as the dinner table, or something that isn’t the “spiritual” thing to do, I transform my own judgment by going into the behavior that’s “wrong” consciously to overcome it. Rather than resisting the behavior, I own it.
Quirky — my whole personality feels really quirky. I actually like cleaning, and I have been known to sometimes watch certain movies over 15 times (possibly upwards of 30).
5. “I Love My…” is an outlet for you to express and appreciate all the positive traits that make you…well… YOU! Sharing what you love about yourself will make you smile, feel empowered, and uplift your spirit and soul. (we assure you!) Identity challenges you to complete the phrase “I Love My…?”
Humor. There are few things I love more than to laugh, and I’m pretty funny. A friend and I joked how it could sound arrogant, but we love our humor so much that if you don’t think we’re funny, you need to work on your humor! Just kidding, kind of…
