This post is a download for a lot of thoughts I have accumulated over the past month! I spent the month of August on my yearly sabbatical where I spend a lot of time just being. I did have some work days, but did better about being more in thinking a creating mode and saying no to most work. I love August because it is so beautiful here in Vermont and I can spend a lot of time outside.
That I did! I walked well over 100 miles in August and I was only able to do that because I prioritized it and took the time. I made my plan for August back in January- planning way ahead is my first suggestion in making something like this happen. I had two, three night stays- on near home and one at Kripalu in the Berkshires- a little over three hour drive away for me.
On the Kripalu trip I did a great job of planning for experiences along the way. I got to visit The Clark Museum which I had never known about until one of my friends suggested it. I realized I have been driving right by it for years. It was amazing. On the way back I visited my favorite Northshire Bookstore in Manchester. I loved those bookends!
I have been working on the idea of saying less and more at the right times. Practicing silence is something I tried to do at the nearby Inn, but I had to talk to too many people and saw many people I knew. Kripalu was the perfect place to be silent. Taking a break from speaking- whether for a morning or for days, is so good for us. Kripalu has silent breakfast, so the first part of the day is easy. I go by myself and that makes it easy, too. Unless you have an issue, there is really no reason to speak. One evening before dinner I did see someone I knew after being silent all day. So I broke my silence for 5 minutes, but I was able to just resume instead of being caught up in any story of how my silent day had failed.
Trying too hard to effort, to make things work is not healthy for us either. A few weeks ago I challenged you with a post about giving more of an effort in all areas. Recognize where you could give more of an effort- and where you are over using effort- trying to force things. It is not a good place to live. My dog Millie is showing me lots of lessons in this area. Watch my latest video on YouTube to hear about how. I, at times, try to use friendly force to get her to walk, but I discovered love and kindness works better and is working most of the time. Stop trying to force things to work, the right things and people for you do not require force. If there is forcing going on, you might want to rethink what you are going for. Love and kindness FEELS better.
One last thought I want to share this week- when you are tired it’s not the best time to make decisions about anything. You can’t trust your emotions and you might be really hard on yourself and others. Get rested up- it is so important for your health and you will most certainly get better results in all areas of your life. The answer to this not being rested will be different for all of us, so assess your situation and determine where you are at with this.
You set yourself up for happiness when you are doing all of the things you can control to feel good- being well rested is foundational, you know the usual things- eating clean, moving, nature, seeing the doctor when needed, taking your meds and supplements. Choose to be as healthy as you can with all that you can control. Take breaks, take naps, follow a schedule. These things set you up to make good choices, to have balanced emotions, to have clear thinking, to feel good and kind toward yourself which in turn sets you up to be kind and thoughtful and graceful with others, as well.