Don’t wait. Today is the very best day, now is the very best moment, to chill out and breathe.

Talking with friends this week, I realized that many of us are waiting.

We’re waiting for some other day to give ourselves a break. We’re waiting until our next vacation to really let our hair down (it’s not until next year though!!).

We think that there will be more time when the kids grow up. When work isn’t so busy. When it’s not raining outside.

Then — THEN — we’ll be able to have some fun.

But what happens, all too often?

We put it off. We forget. We work through our breaks. We jump right into housework as soon as we get home from work.

We work, work, work, and suddenly 10 years has passed.

Sometimes we don’t even look up (nose to the grindstone!) to see the wonder that’s all around us.

When nurses working in palliative care asked their dying patients about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, these were the top 2 responses:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.
   (click here for the rest of the top 5)

Granted, there may always be work to do.

But, knowing that without replenishing our joy, things start to feel tense and look bleak, we can shoot for a different result. We can set the intention and take action, now.

So I ask you, what is one thing that you can do, right now, to feel more free, to be more happy, to feel lightness and touch joy?? Then let this moment inspire an avalanche.

Don’t be afraid to designate tonight a movie night!

Ice cream with the kids? How lovely! A wander through the park at sunset? The vacuuming can wait!

Honoring yourself is honoring us all with your beaming smile. Let it shine!

Stress Release Tip

Achieving work/play balance requires a bit of practice. It’s taken our entire lives to arrive at this current point of merely “surviving.” “How are you?” you say to someone. “I’m here,” they respond. We don’t want to just be “here,” do we? I didn’t think so. It takes a bit of consistent effort to move from surviving to thriving. And thriving is what life is all about. Schedule time for you the coming days, and don’t compromise. And while you’re there, immerse yourself fully in it. Enjoy it. Relish it. Love it.

Mindful Homework

Tea time! The ritual of tea – boiling the water, brewing the leaves, and sipping the infusion – does something that little else in life does these days: it gives us a little hiatus, a break in the action. Compared with the tiny gap we might experience at the stoplight or standing in line at Starbucks, this is time we can actually dive into and enjoy. If you allow for it. For the next days, take your sweet time brewing some tea, paying very close attention to each step. Feel your body and your senses relax into the experience.

Quote From Adam

“It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dream of meeting your heart’s longing.”
– Oriah