not at all what i expected...
apparently i am a lazy person… okay, not really, but that’s how i feel in light of my new experiment… margins. how can it be SO difficult to spend time at the beginning and end of my days to prepare and decompress? and i’m not talking about a lot of time… i’m only talking about 5 minutes, 10 minutes total... and i have failed almost every time. what?!?!?!?! how can this be? time is certainly a rare commodity these days (you're nodding your head in agreement right now aren't you?). it's still just as plentiful as it once was, but there seems to be less and less of it. weird right? with only 24 hours in a day and seven of those days a week, we have enough time to live meaningful lives, but everything else just somehow gets in the way... or rather, i let that "stuff" cut in line... that's what i'm learning at least. these margins are important. that's what i've read and that's honestly what i've experienced. but my life right now seems stacked against the concept. it's hard to make the time and when it's easy, i just don't want to... so... my margins will now become moments... moments during my day when i prepare or decompress. i will attempt to use 10 minutes during my days rather than at the beginning and end. i just want to experiment and see if that helps in any way. i'm hopeful. i'll let you know, and maybe you can try this too... i sure hope i'm not the only person who struggles like this : ) give yourself some grace and shake things up. have some moments.
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morning stretch... easy and refreshing.
natural light... feels great, but a little difficult now because of daylight savings. almost caffeine free... ups and downs, but i honestly feel better with less. powered down... i hate to admit it, but it feels ridiculously impossible. pjs... pretty consistent, and i think it actually helps me rest better. a new proposal- MARGINS... imagine these as the bookends to your day. use this time and space to prepare or decompress... meditate, pray, journal, etc. and not necessarily a ton of time. five minutes would be an improvement to my nonexistent margins : ) i'm going to add a blend of margins in the coming week since i can't settle on one in particular. should be exciting! Be the brave and ask the question no one else will ask.
Move your table out into the hallway and invite others to a meal. Experiment. Interrupt the status quo. Incite change toward a better story for yourself and others. Slow down. Reflect. Adventure inward. Wear PJs!!! Hahaha ... you need to listen to the MTL Podcast to get that last one : ) Remember, this experimentation should be fun and exciting and without a doubt difficult because change always is. I also want to share a story with you... I have been selling a lot on eBay recently to make some extra money. This past Sunday evening I parted ways with my original Xbox along with its games and many controllers. My boys had enjoyed that Xbox as their first game system, but it was also my first game system (apart from the ones that were given to me during my childhood). And even though it was the first system I owned as an adult, I still didn't purchase it. Why? About three years into directing a youth program in Breckenridge, some of the boys realized I didn't have a game system. So what did they do? They went in together and purchased one for me. I still remember the day they gave it to me, and the times afterward when I'd come home to them in my living room playing it : ) What great memories! How can you author a better story? What decisions can you make to write a better script? In what ways can you live more connected to others? I encourage you to share yourself... your time and your energy. Experiment and see what memories you can create. P.S. If you are going to start your days with a morning stretch and natural light, you better hop on it this week... I was reminded by someone last night at MTL that Daylight Savings is right around the corner and is going to put a damper on our natural light in the mornings. So make it happen this week : ) Here is an excerpt from Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist... "I'd just read Arianna's fantastic book Thrive, and she makes a point that we should all wear pajamas, and that the epidemic of wearing workout clothes to bed has to end. So when it's time to rest, tell your body it's time to rest by putting on your pajamas- clothes specifically made for private spaces, for quite, for sleep. Don't confuse your body by dressing it the same way you would to go to the gym, or to coffee."
Are you the kind of person who stays up too late? I am. Are you the kind of person that falls asleep in their clothes? I am. Even if you're not, it's pretty interesting to think of bodyTALK and self-care in terms of PJs. Which brings me to the next experiment, and I'm almost positive you can guess it: wearing pajamas. That's right. Choose something comfortable and cozy to wear at the end of the day that tells your body it is time to wind down... that it is okay to "turn off." Try it... MORE than once. See what happens. That's right, have a day...
a day to live and breathe and sense depth in the ordinary : ) Today is your gift... and I hope you can approach it with gratitude and with wonder... regardless of your circumstances. I personally am co-planning an action packed, Escape the Room-ish birthday party for my youngest boy and his friends at our home today... and I just broke one of our shovels while moving around some snow... oh my. Earlier, when I got into my car to run a quick errand, the low pressure light came on for my rear, driver-side tire... of course. I suspect a pesky nail. Then the air pump at the nearest gas station took my money... always a joy. And literally just now, one of my other boys broke a glass while emptying the dishwasher. I don't know how your day is going. And honestly, no matter how it shapes up, I am excited for you because today is your gift! Embrace it. Live your story. Speak with your voice. We need you. So have a day... this day... it's yours! the first week of March is now behind us.
today i am reminded of how wonderFULL life is in the midst of all of its chaos and struggle. my youngest boy turned 8 years old today and has spent the majority of the day assembling robots. soon i'll be standing on top of a mountain with over 100 people watching two people declare their love for one another and sealing it with a kiss. and let's not forget that today began easily with a giant stretch and the sun creeping in my window. and i say all of this in the midst of things not feeling good or even okay. i'm thankFULL for joy being contagious... even if it takes time. this past sunday MTL began the monthly gathering for high school students and i am still smiling because of their positive energy and insight. one thing they shared got me all excited and i wanted to share it with you for possible experimentation during the rest of March. we all talked about the positive and negative impacts of technology on our lives. while we marveled at the gifts and conveniences technology offers us, we also felt the sting of how it can deplete us of our time and energy. we realized that none of us... truly none of us in the room that evening... turn off our phones. they are always on except for the occasional turn off/turn on to fix a glitch. and so we asked the following: what if that "always on" mentality is telling our bodies something? what if a phone being left on and sitting next to our beds at night is communicating in some way to our bodies? here's my proposal... power down. turn off your phone at night. see if that doesn't help you sleep and rest. and if you can't make that big of a jump yet, then charge your phone at night outside of your bedroom or further away than your bedside table. try it. remember, this is a month to experiment and see if we can talk to our bodies in ways that are helpful. i hope that your day and evening are filled with rest and wonder and JOY... the contagious sort : ) FAT TUESDAY came and went... now it's March.
I said that March would be a month of ideas and experimentation about "communicating better with our bodies"... bodyTALK. And just so we're clear, what I mean is literally listening and conversing with our bodies. So here are my first two experiments that I will be conducting throughout the month of March. Feel free to try them too... 1. Almost caffeine free. Hahaha! I will only have one caffeinated drink a day AND at different times. I read somewhere that a healthy caffeine addiction is actually good for our bodies. Obviously I am no scientist so I genuinely have no clue if that is indeed true. What I do know is that I personally like caffeine but too much makes me jittery. So I going to listen to my body and drink less, and honestly less is more anyway. That same source I read mentioned how changing up the time we consume caffeine every day will allow it to work better for us. I guess a regular routine with caffeine diminishes its effect on us and can actually teach our body to expect it and depend on it to merely bring us up to status quo. So less caffeine and consumed at various times of day... just not right before bed obviously. 2. A morning stretch with natural light. Last month, I also read that the smartest and best thing we can do for our bodies is to begin our days with a full body stretch, preferably in bed. The stretch tells our body that it is time to wake up. And not immediately looking at a screen or turning on a light will also allow our bodies to wake up naturally. I'm planning on a 5-10 minute ritual of easing into my days with stretching and no electricity. So there you have it... the first two additions to my days. I hope you'll join me and see what happens when we try to communicate better with our bodies. |
These posts offer further reflection on topics we tackle during MTL nights.
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