We are all in a world of hurry, and sometimes, we get stressed out from all of it, don’t we? There are emails to respond to, work, trying to make everything alright, and we often get caught up in that mindset of being perfect. Yes, we all do it, we are our own worst enemies. We sabotage ourselves and our happiness thinking that everything has to be just right, well, I’m here to tell you to stop that. Put down the phone, roll back your chair, and give me an ear.
Even with the everyday changes that we have all experienced over the past year, it is okay to breathe, it is okay to not have to be perfect. We don’t have to be anything but ourselves, and people will still like us; the right ones will anyway. When have you just let go, and allowed yourself to just dream or think a bit without pressure? What inspires you? Can we pause life for just a few minutes?
When was the last time you’ve had a good laugh? When have you pushed away from your desk at home and just put on a coat or scarf, and went out for a walk? Fifteen minutes can and will do wonders for your overall mental health. There’s a reason why they give you those little breaks at work, to simply get away from the environment for just a bit, well, sometimes we need to give ourselves a break, literally and figuratively to help put things into perspective.
There’s something to be said for feeling that cool, brisk air on our skin, or the sun on our face. Maybe there’s a bit of hustle and bustle of the city, or perhaps you are lucky enough to live in a rural area where you can truly walk around the block or down the road a bit and hear nothing but quiet, maybe your own thoughts. For me, just taking five means a chance to ground, a moment to just reflect, to focus on the things that really matter, often they are what is right in front of us. The here, the now, and I get to ask myself where I want to be. Have you ever taken the time to really ask that, or is your mind focused on what to make for dinner, or what one has to reply to next? When I’m stressed, I’ve learned to take a step back, put my earphones in, tune out the world and listen to that inner voice.
I have also learned to take a moment just for joy. Can you be silly, can you laugh at yourself, do something that is outside of your normal routine? Can you take things a little lighter, and not so seriously for just an hour, maybe a day? Yes, I know we live in interesting times, I don’t want to downplay that, but what can you see in this that is good? Can we put on a silly tie, or dance around listening to music in the kitchen, or go play frisbee in the backyard with the dog or throw a few snowballs? We don’t have to be adults all the time. Let’s take a moment, and send a little love out there to others who are probably needing it as much as we are.
Let’s walk it off, refocus, refresh and see where we can head with a different point of view, let’s change our environment up a bit, let the winds of nature lead us instead of our ever questioning mind. Let’s learn to let go a little bit, maybe laugh at our fickle selves, and not take it so seriously. Go cloud watching and see what ideas or inspiration might come along. Innovation is out there, we just have to be willing to embrace it.
Can we see with different eyes before we press play once more? Can we let ourselves wonder?
#WEEKLYPROMPT, #STRESSRELIEF, #MICROSTEPS, #HEALTH, #PRESSPAUSE