Do you ever get the feeling something is missing, even when you couldn’t quite put your finger on it?
I am not talking about misplacing your car keys, your cell phone or your favorite pair of earrings. Everyone of us loses one of those items a few times throughout the course of a year. A minor inconvenience, potentially rectified by retracing our steps in in our minds or in an actual physical location. The entire time focused on finding the object we lost, all the while becoming slightly more frustrated with ourselves.
Doubting our ability to function in the world when we can’t even find the last place we left our car keys. Spending the majority of our days in front of a computer or driving around from one activity to the next, one meeting to the next all while thinking about what to cook for dinner. The days begin to blur into an endless cycle of computer screens, meetings and dinner plans, the brief moments of absentmindedness begin to accumlate into a ocean of never-ending tidal waves of misteps.
How can I find the keys when every few minutes my phone is beeping, notifications dinging, the constant feeling of a visitor at the front door who won’t leave until you let them in. Then once you let them in you wonder how long will they stay. You find yourself doubting your own competence in a world that demands your attention from multiple angles.
Who can think straight?
That’s when you hear it – a voice, your own voice cutting through the chaos, “Stop” just stop. I am alone. The voice is mine.
In this moment of silence, this is when I know my world is tilted too far to one side. Overwhelmed and off-balance in the midst of a barrage of modern world distractions. I need to find a way to balance it out. I need to get centered again.
Usually when I feel this overwhelmed I realize I may not be setting boundaries. Simple boudaries is a good place to start. What was I thinking when I said yes to doing something after work everyday of the week. My extended family and my friendships are extremely important in my life. I can’t imagine one without them. However, if belonging to two book clubs, teaching multiple yoga classes in one week or meeting multiple groups of people after work just to catch up results in a loss of peace and tranquility, change needs to happen.
Each day I am working on recognizing true balance isn’t about equal time for everthing, but rather about focusing on my top priorities. Finding the courage to say “no” to unnecessary commitments and activities that will drain my energy reserves. Before I go to sleep making a list a to do list for the next day really helps me accomplish every day tasks with less time wasted.
My goal is to eliminate the clutter and distractions that keep me from being present. Finding time for the activities I love; hiking, yoga, meditation, reading or writing to name a few. Could be as simple as talking a 30 minute walk in nature. Everyone’s version of a balanced life may be different and that’s okay. The key is being proactive instead of reacting to constant demands.
Setting your intentions towards self-awareness you can reclaim a harmonious rhythm to your life. Just the other evening a friend suggested we take a hike before dinner. It was the best suggestion I had heard all week. We chose a trail 20 minutes from home. Spent about an hour and a half soaking in nature while bathing in the woods! Our energy shifted into a sense of peaceful bliss.
We found our center.
Quirky Confidence 
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