Reverb 10 Prompt of the Day: Achieve. What’s the thing you most want to achieve next year? How do you imagine you’ll feel when you get it? Free? Happy? Complete? Blissful? Write that feeling down. Then, brainstorm 10 things you can do, or 10 new thoughts you can think, in order to experience that feeling today.(Author: Tara Sophia Mohr)
Serenity. I don’t pretend to believe that I will achieve the sort of tranquility one finds in the expressions of, say, the woman sitting cross-legged on the cover of Yoga magazine. But I do want to achieve the serenity that comes from having achieved some of the other goals I’ve discussed in recent blogs: community; organization; self-assuredness; inspiration and discipline in my work.
I don’t expect that achieving a state of psychological quietude will mean that I will be serenely self-possessed no matter what the situation. But I do believe that it’s possible to achieve an inner balance that allows that serenity to radiate even in the most chaotic moments—what my friend Lori and I like to call our fits of “Kabuki Joan,” after the famous “coat hanger” scene in “Mommie Dearest.”
So, 10 things/thoughts with an eye toward achievable serenity:
1. Pause at about 4:30 in the afternoon to check out the sky.
2. Play music.
3. Yawp (figuratively, I mean). Let kids yawp.
4. Stop looking at the dust on the mantle.
5. Peppermint tea.
6. Come up with a Laundry Plan. One load a day?
7. Prioritize sleep.
8. Eat fresh snow with maple syrup.
9. Stop talking and listen: to the kids, to other people’s stories. To the quiet.
10. Slow down the post-dinner, pre-bedtime blitz.
These are random and in no particular order. I have a whole year to w
1 comment:
Tricia,
I HIGHLY recommend one load a day. It works for us and we probably have a bit more than you, though it does get bulkier as they get older.
I seriously need to do more of #9.
For the kids, we do a bedtime ritual after dinner that I would say they easily love. After dinner, they wash hands and then all go and sit at the kids table and color and draw while we tidy the dishes. The kitchen is off limits to them so we can get the work done up fast.
There is no media after dinner, except sometimes a bit of quiet music. Then it is booktime and milk time and bed time.
I don't see any reason for some version of this ritual for us to continue as they get older. No tv at night allows their brains to cool down and them to sink into sleep time. An hour of time with no screen time is recommended for everyone before bed.
Once ours get older, they will be doing the dishes and such... so that will change too.
I do agree that bedtime should be a ritual and one that is the favorite time of the day. Maybe ask them what they want and love to do to relax... We used to do a bit of "embracing the silence" where we all sat together and just listened to the sounds. That's how I introduced them to meditation and sitting still.
Lots of ideas. Imagine what you ideal after dinner house "sounds" like and then just ask them to come on board!
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