Have you ever wished you’d come equipped with an Auto Refresh button? If I had one, I’d use it today. Where was I before the weekend? Oh, right. There. A place to start on Monday morning. A place to Begin Within. This is the time of year when Things come up. Things to prepare for. Things to complete. Friends and family, too. Their things. All of those things we call life with others, life of community.
I’m one of those people who needs to stop and listen to my own directions before I can go into the world and do my thing.
Simply dropping in to a deeper level of connection with my own needs, wants, and inner promptings can be….well, a little more difficult than hitting Reset. There are days I’d give anything for a little curvy upward arrow that I could click and magically reset my screen, putting me back in the loop of my own deeper thinking/knowing.
In the best of all worlds, I’d keep hitting the refresh button all day, checking in and checking back with that still small voice. When I’m in social or high-pressure situations I can easily forget. And I forget the keyboard shortcut, too.
Over time, I’ve come up with a few routines for re-connecting. What that meant when I worked full-time as a teacher, was a bedtime journal or early morning list of priorities. Mornings like this one, I write this on the top of a page of my journal: Now where WAS I?
For me, ten minutes of reflective writing works wonders. A list of recent moments that sparkled. Looking out the window at the bird feeder. Petting my dog. Meditation. Yoga. As I write the list, it grows.
The amazing and wonderful thing is, once I remember, even a few minutes can bring me back to me. To a quiet inner world has been there all along waiting patiently.
What works for you? How do you hit reset? What are your shortcuts, the ones that bring you back to the present moment that was waiting all along?
