Having a cold or anything that takes us out of our routine is something to be thankful for. When you feel so punk that you can’t focus on anything but can only be exactly where you are in the moment. This could be a new form of meditation with the added benefit that you can’t jump right back into a busy day. You are just there. Not fit to be anywhere else. You can’t find the energy to worry.
Even when you are on the mend and are back in your usual routine there is still a different energy. There is a kind of awareness that stays with you. A different perspective. An appreciation of feeling good again. Also, it’s the one time there’s no guilt about taking time off in the middle of the week. Instead it’s a time to shift deadlines, meetings and even podcasts. Things we would never think of doing when we are in the land of the healthy.
But, maybe, as we re-enter our usual life, it’s a chance to assess if we are doing what we want to be doing. If our daily activities express what we really think and feel. Because we have just spent time with ourselves that has been unscripted and without obligations. That changes awareness. We could jump right back into the old pattern of life or we could use this reconnecting to our usual lifestyle as a time to evaluate.
I think it’s good to do a monthly assessment of where we are and where we want to go. That’s usually a New Year’s Day activity, but what if it was something we did constantly? Would we stop ourselves from getting caught up in something we no longer believed in? Would we be more authentic and happier?
Awareness is a very precious thing. It’s usually not a high value for many. But what could be more valuable than asking ourselves what we want. We usually set up a task and go for it. That task usually leads to another and then logically to another, etc. So, we end up quite a way down the line from the original task and the reason for its existence.
Answering the question if something is what we want to be doing doesn’t mean we have to scrap everything and just stop dead in the water. However, it does mean that we might see a way to do things differently and more in alignment with who we are right now. Since we are constantly growing and evolving shouldn’t that mean how we lead our life, conduct our business, live in our relationships should also evolve? Wouldn’t that make life more interesting? I would think we would also feel more alive and more ourselves. Everything changes which is just part of life. When we refuse to change we miss out. Evolving is a really great thing. It means we are more than we were and that we will continue to be more. Not want more, but be more. They are vastly different. My sense is that often people confuse the two. By acquiring more they feel they are evolving, but that is definitely not true. Having more can be a trap because it is never ending. It is never enough.
Going back to feeling better after an illness. Everything feels new. We are grateful for feeling better. We are happy to be outside again and re-joining the world. We have a profound appreciation of simple things. Maybe we can find a way to keep those feelings. If we actively allow ourselves to evolve then we are always in that new place. Life looks different with new insight. We see things afresh. We have deeper appreciations. And, the good news, we no longer have to have been ill to be in that state of renewal.
Happy evolution
Dianne J. Shaver, M.A.
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