The Time Is Always Now

Fast-paced lives, looking towards the future, making plans for a better tomorrow, or dwelling on the past, reliving your life's worst traumatic events or most uncomfortable and embarrassing experiences, wishing we could turn back time and do things differently. If only... that's often what we live by. If only I could get a bonus next month, if only I hadn't said that, if only I could win the lottery then I would.

While reliving our life or wishing it away, we totally miss what actually happens to us, right now, in the Present moment.

Have you ever noticed that when your mind is racing with past experiences and preferred alternative outcomes, or you are busy thinking about future plans filled with excitement or dread, you barely breathe? Enough to be alive, for sure, but not deeply, in a restorative manner and purposefully. It is also true when we are stressed, by the way. Breathe...

The Present moment is actually all we have, it is who we are. What we were in the past is gone and what we will be or do in the future hasn't happened yet, some part of it at least out of our control, and, for many various reasons, it might never happen.

It is not to discard the amazing value of the past, learning from our experiences and growing, and the future, making plans and working towards worthy goals to better yourself, your environment and/or your community, but to refocus our attention to the fact that, by forgetting the Present moment, a beautiful piece of the puzzle, we do not live our life fully, enjoying even the little things, consciously. We let it slide and give the power to external sources to lead our life for us.

Focusing on the present moment can be as simple as focusing on your breathing and body response, on your sensations when walking outside - the breeze on your skin, the ground below your feet, the energy in your body when in motion, or stillness, the sun shining in your eyes, the birds singing in the trees, or the dogs barking! Or observing people and surroundings on the bus. When you start focusing on the present moment, you will immediately notice that you automatically slow down. You are not judgmental, you are but an observer of yourself, your inner space, as well as everything around you. Everything and everyone is part of a whole. You feel more alive as you've ever been. It is a beautiful experience.

In a previous article, I presented the Wake Up Your Senses exercise. If you're not sure where to start and you feel that only focusing on your breath will be boring, this is a great exercise to start fully being in the Present moment. For the Present moment is where you truly exist. You know the famous saying, "There is no time like the Present", really, there truly isn't. All our fully lived experiences and sensations happened there - or should I say, here.

The present moment not only opens doors to your fully conscious living, experiencing every sensation possible, but also to opportunities in your relationships to others. The Perfect Time is always now to let a colleague or a loved one know how grateful you are to have them in your life and how much you appreciate them, or notice something amazing or brave they have done.
I fully understand that now that both my parents have died and, despite our complicated relationship, I never told them how much I loved them, even if I wanted to on many occasions while they were still alive, but felt too embarrassed to do so.

Taking the present moment as is and experiencing it as is helps you fight the inner struggle and the barriers you put on yourself that prevent you from moving forward, because we always move forward, in the end - into the next Present moment.

Keeping our gaze on the Present moment opens up your mind and intuition, makes you more open to possibilities and solutions, more compassionate towards yourself and others, and is the best remedy I know against regrets and missed opportunities.

Live your life fully and enjoy it NOW - Carpe Diem, seize the day - fully and consciously.

Sunday Journaling Prompt #11

Happy Sunday journaling. Now for another prompt:

What is your best life story?

Until next week...

The Moral of the Story Is...

Today, I would like to share with you a recent (even still current) experience.

We are all active, going 200 miles per hour and not stopping much or even slowing down in this day and age.
I am totally guilty of that. Being a full-time working single mum, needless to say that my time - with my health and my loved ones - is one of my most precious and valuable assets. Wasting time is definitely at the top of my Pet Hate list.

Recently, I got ill - nothing life-threatening, thankfully - full up with a massive head cold, suffering with permanent brain-breeze syndrome. I have been working so hard on improving my health that, as I was watching people around me fall like flies with the seasonal germs, I was convinced that my optimum diet had strengthened my immune system so well that I'd go through the net. And I did, for a while. Until Thursday 07/11.

Sore throat started in the evening and ended up with a congested head by the weekend. I spent most of that first weekend in bed, feeling really unwell, like my head was full of lead and I could barely open my eyes, no energy.
Then came Monday with our Area Manager's visit at work over 2 days, and a meeting I was chairing on the Tuesday to prepare for. No choice - I had to go to work and stop feeling sorry for myself. Put your big girl's pants on and get on with it, Christelle!! I work in a very busy office so we never stop there; there is always something to do or sort out. Like a good little trooper, I pushed myself every single minute of the day. Back home at 6:30 pm with dinner to prepare, cats to feed, dishes to do... Bedtime at 9:30 pm, completely drained and crashing into sleep within minutes, only to wake up at 3 am the next morning with totally blocked sinuses and brain ready to explode, unable to breathe comfortably. Back to work the next day at 9 am, with, beforehand, people coughing all over me on the bus for a good half hour, and repeating the same process as the day before.

I pride myself on taking good care of my health, listening to my body and limiting toxicity as much as possible, establishing a balance in my life that will help me maximise my health, contribution to others and happiness.
Here, however, on this occasion, I completely and utterly failed. I failed to recognise when to preserve my health and strength, to stop, slow down and take care of myself to recover.
The result - I was bedridden for 2 days, unable to do anything, let alone going to work, sleeping 90% of the time and unable to eat on the first day. From a simple cold, it blew out of proportion to having temperature on those 2 days, feeling light-headed and strength-depleted the next day. It is only now (Sunday afternoon) that I am starting to emerge and be active again - moderately, though, no rushing around.

I know that my story is nothing special, that I've done this in the past numerous times and that so have millions of people like you and me on this earth. But, to me, that is what makes it worse. We are so used to neglecting, abusing our body, ignoring its signals and cries for help, that we go on auto-pilot and end up crashing down with multiple system malfunctions. This has become our normality and I find it very sad that this is the world we now live in.
External responsibilities outweigh by far our own responsibility to ourselves, it is the shocking truth; but how can you function in the outside world and help others if you are unfit, unwell or, in a way, malfunctioning? When your strength is depleted, how can you fight some more? If you do, it should be for your recovery.

And the moral of the story is - listen to your body, it is NOT a weakness. What it is telling you is for the benefit of your health and well-being.
You have a responsibility towards yourself first and foremost. It is all linked to self-care and self-love, out of respect for yourself and your amazing body. Only then can you be of true service and support to others, leading the way and making this planet a much better place to live in.

Sunday Journaling Prompt #10

After a sickness break, I am back to you with a new journaling prompt, so grab your notebook and pen and journal on...

With social media and advertising telling us constantly to be someone else, this almost 2 centuries old Oscar Wilde's fantastic quote irreverently reminds us that it is impossible. How does it make you feel?

Happy Sunday journaling and self-exploring, my dear friendly souls...

Sunday Journaling Prompt #9

Happy Sunday

We are back again with a new journaling prompt

Now that’s a tough question. Easy to answer, but in order to answer it truly, you really need to dig deep. What we’re missing the most, most often, is not something you can see or touch - and that’s where the question gets sensitive.

It’s all about sheer and brutal honesty towards yourself - no blinkers on, because that’s the very least you deserve.

X

Food - You Become What You Eat (Conclusion)

For the last few weeks, we have been exploring what food does to your body - good and bad - how our body assimilates food and how reliant on the food industry we have been for so many decades, dictating our state of health.

I believe that the main reason why people increasingly have food allergies and intolerances is because of the bad unhealthy diets we have been on for most of our lives. Our bodies, at some point, is saying NO to the added sugar, the chemicals and other sensitising types of food being a constant aggression to our system.

Even if I’m not particularly grateful for over a full year of bad belly and far too many toilet trips, I am however extremely grateful that, at a certain point, my body pushed the WARNING! DANGER button and opened my eyes to what I thought was a healthy diet.

When what you eat is a constant attack to your body, it will become sick. If your body becomes sick, out of the window goes your vitality, making you more sedentary and less active. Your body stores toxins, fat and you then truly become what you eat as the unhealthy foods literally take over your body, your energy and even your thinking process and confidence.

Don’t let the foods you eat dictate who you are. By choosing to eat truly healthy, you can save your life and actually become who you’ve always wanted to be...