What a delight to practice yoga on this beautiful blue sky day…the end of an age and the beginning of a new era. My mind wanders to the possibilities of all that is to come…the pure potential and infinite positivity we can create. I think about my life and about how incredibly grateful and blessed I am to be living my days in the flow, growing, learning and being present with my husband and our children, grooving through the hours with joy in my heart and opportunity at every turn.
As I was chatting with a dear friend yesterday while our children delighted in play nearby, I realized that we are living our dreams in such a profound way…and I wondered if others are doing the same…I was flooded with hope that perhaps a new age of consciousness will encourage even more people to live the lives of their dreams. I LOVE the freedom in my life and the privileges my family enjoys as we educate our own children…like snuggling cozy in bed with my girls on a cold winter day, visiting amazing friends and family during the middle of the week, learning as we explore our world together.
At the heart of the American ideal is the notion of FREEDOM and I feel so full of freedom in my life that I give thanks every day. Literally. Every single day. And then I wonder, how can more people manifest their own destiny, choose their own path, and live deliberately in the way that best suits them? Could we reframe our experience of life so that we enJOY each and every day? Could we release the notion that accompanies the very fabric of so much of our society…that we pay our dues today in the hopes of enjoying ourselves tomorrow, or on the weekend, or over the summer, or on vacation, or during retirement? What if our cultural norm was not so much about achieving the goals and dreams that others have deemed important and worthy, but instead about creating the life we actually truly deeply desire to live? What if embracing our desires became paramount and those with the most joy and love in their lives were the most esteemed?
Now this is not to say that a life of freedom is without struggle or sacrifice; of course, every life is a dance between the light and the dark. But the thing is, when we choose to attend to the light, the joy, the love, the wellness, the unity of living in harmony with ourselves, with others, and with our environment, then doors open and new worlds we never even dreamed possible begin to unfold.
When I began this journey of home education, I had no idea what roads I would travel. I knew after ten years of teaching in public schools that I wanted something different, something individual, something thrilling, something fun for my children. And so, I took a step. I attended a park day where home educating families gather, I made connections, I forged friendships, I unveiled a once-hidden world that is lush with support and kindness and wisdom and play.
I remember reading recently that anything we do with an intention of joy is transformed into play…whatever “work” we do we can choose to feel like a burden weighing us down OR we can choose to let it invite an air of playfulness and lighten our hearts as we move meditatively through our experience. Everything has something to teach us, every high and every low, every success and every failure…everything has value and it is only our interpretation of the experience and the meaning we give it that determines how we feel.
As I am faced with a blitzkrieg of laundry, hundreds of weeds to pull in our garden, stories to write, meals to prepare, dishes to wash, mucky noses to wipe, and above all, beautiful children to nurture, I see that I have a choice: I may choose to be filled with anxiety and allow stress to creep in to my shoulders and compel me to move with a fierce need to complete the tasks OR I may choose to be filled with gratitude and allow tenderness to relax my body and motivate me to enJOY each moment of my day.
As I fold clothes and pull weeds and wash dishes and care for our daughters, I CHOOSE to practice meditation, I CHOOSE to breathe, I CHOOSE to be present and grateful for the opportunity to live this amazing life.
Could you choose to attend to the light and the positive a little more today, even for a moment?
Are there any activities you could transform from work to play by infusing them with JOY?
How can you…”do more of what makes you happy”?
Start with a SMILE and feel happy now…
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