It’s Monday, and the alarm rings too soon following a weekend full of family adventures and a piling side dish of work responsibilities. I pause for just a moment and revel in the peace of a still house. It’s just as well that a small cry beckons from a crib down the hall. Parker Jewel meets each day with a bright smile and an energetic pep in her tiny step. I wish that mindset came as natural for the rest of us. But I summon it from the depths of my tired core as my mind starts to run through the check list that drives our morning routine.
“Breathe Bobbie” my mind whispers as I pull in deep through my nose and push out through pursed lips. It’s an ever shrinking window between the time I wake before my minutes are swept away with diapers changes, breakfast requests and a heartfelt attempt to put myself together. But it’s an invaluable chunk of time that demands a conscious effort to sort my energies amongst the endeavors at hand and those that await me through the day and week. If I manage to stay on top of my convictions and my thoughts, I will inevitably find a natural flow for the week and those tasks that could easily be felt as a reluctant or dreaded push in too many directions. You know, the common concept of “being spread too thin”. But with exercise, just as with trained muscle and movement, I’ve found that a push can effectively transitioned to a more of a pull, based on attractive magnetism and what will become a dance of sorts to get me from this to that with undivided presence and defined purpose. It’s all in the breathe and the vision around it. I believe these practices to be an important key to happiness and success as a working mother, as a CEO, as a functioning human being!
So with that, the moment has passed and my hands are busy balancing chubby thighs and a cup of coffee. Balance. I pop into my closet which has been significantly downsized since I’ve made strides in simplifying my life. This is one avenue I’ve ventured down and the positive reviews are in, but that’s another post for another day.
It’s a quick wardrobe change and a brush or two of makeup before my attention is back on the kids to ensure that we’ll all be out the door in time. Late is never the way to start a Monday morning, or any morning for that matter. If a day starts off late, it will be all the more difficult to find time for peace and reflection I need. But even on those days, the breath comes in the car, or on the toilet or in a sip from my favorite mug. One way or another I promise myself I’ll find it. I stop for just a second and repeat it. “Breathe in.. breathe out.” As my chest rises I envision all the “stuff” on my shoulders and the pressure it creates but as I exhale, my attention fixates on the power I have to carry and conquer every piece of the puzzle this week. And as I visualize my goal for the day and my schedule ahead down to the steps I will take in between, it manifests all those little to-dos into a big, beautiful picture. And I think to myself, “You’ve got this,” as we all file out the door, right on time.
Feel free to let me know if you have any thoughts… Thank you for visiting my blog! -BB