When we are doing the soul seeking work of building a business, a life, a relationship or a new healthful way of living things can get really serious.
It is easy to make everything a point of deep mental or spiritual inquiry.
What is my mission in business? In life?
What do I stand for? Can it change?
What kind of parent do I want to be? Is it working?
Why am I craving potato chips? Do we have any?
While it is important to give our professional and personal work generous amounts of time, respect and sacred attention, it is easy to dive down a rabbit hole with it all.
Everything can start to feel really important and really heavy.
For the past few years I have been simultaneously creating a business, learning how to be a mama, learning how to be a girlfriend now that my man and I are parents and learning how to navigate new inspiring friendships and business collaborations. Amongst other things.
It is all wonderful, but when I get super busy it is easy to put a bit of a damper on the joy.
I’ll be at the park watching my son laugh, run and climb very complicated playground structures much more quickly than I expected him to and I’ll be having a great time. I will also be randomly thinking about who I forgot to call back or what I need to do to get a work project completed by the deadline.
I don’t want to do that. I want to be fully present.
I want to be all in for each moment in my life. For those that I am with and for myself.
So, awhile ago I reminded myself that everything that I am doing is 100% my choice and it’s all freaking awesome. It is not so serious.
I gave myself permission to play.
Not just with my son, but anytime I start to feel that weight of self doubt, inner criticism or overwhelm.
Now when those feeling crop up, and they do, I dance. Or hula hoop, practice yoga, enjoy a cup of tea while reading a few pages of a great book or watch the waves on the beach that I am blessed to live just a few minutes from.
I remind myself that everything that needs to get done will get done. If I have a ton of resistance to doing something it may be a big sign that something is off or it might just not be that important.
My resistance to filming the video blogs for my website – that’s a block that needs looking into and clearing. What is the deeper reason that I have yet to do it?
My resistance to folding the mountain of laundry that permanently resides on the couch – that is just not as important to me as spending time with my guys or doing my work. It is simply not a priority. It’s not a spiritual growth point and it does not make me a bad person. It’s just laundry.
What we give our attention to grows.
I have found that as I add more spontaneous play into my work day I am more present and joyful in every other aspect of my life.
So if you are waiting for permission, stop. Give it to yourself right now.
Let me know how it goes. I am always looking for new songs for dance breaks.
*Written for my regular blog on Women Enough
*Photo credit Anna Ward Photography
