We Can Change…

Change suggests movement and effort to bring it about (whether we like it or not). However, Anne Lamott reminds us that positive life changes can unfold “when we agree to give up our busyness.”

Giving up real (or imagined) busyness can feel impossible as we race towards the end of the year. Many are also working to either avoid acknowledging the holidays or avoid not celebrating them just right.

What if Anne Lamott is right though? What if life can offer more to us today and next year if we only choose to give up our busyness?

Can you give yourself an extra 5, 10, or even 20 minutes of spaciousness and silence today and through the rest of the year? If meditation isn’t realistic or appealing, how about 5 more minutes lying in bed to truly welcome the day? Or, an extra 10 minutes enjoying a cup of tea and a poem or two?

We don’t have to work at how life will get better with this spaciousness. We simply need to be open to this possibility and make space for it. “Space.” Just saying that word helps me breathe easier this busy week. How about you?

May you find space in your days and may you resist filling that space with anything other than simply being.

Paying Attention

“We have to cultivate the habits of curiosity and paying attention, which are essential to living rich lives and writing. You raise your eyes out of the pit, which is so miserable and stifling to be in and which tried to grab you and keep you there, until something sneaky hauled you out and changed you.”
—Anne Lamott

Going Slowly

“Be not afraid of going slowly, be afraid only of standing still.”
– Chinese Proverb

Breathing Space

“Breathing is the fundamental unit of risk, the atom of inner courage that leads us into authentic living.

With each breath, we practice opening, taking in, and releasing. Literally, the teacher is under our nose.

When anxious, we simply have to remember to breathe.”
—Mark Nepo

What do you need to open to, take in, and release today?