Welcome to day 7 of the 9:09 is Nurture Time challenge!
We’re on day 2 of the “Manure is a Fertilizer” step and we’re going to get grateful for the stinky stuff in life.
Quick aside – I’m practicing what I preach today. I caught a cold and am nurturing myself with some hot lemonade. And I’m sparing you all from listening to my creaky crackly disappearing voice! I’ll try to record something tomorrow.
Yesterday, we slowed down to feel our emotions, regardless of circumstance. Earlier in the week, we slowed down to feel feedback from our bodies. Today, we’re going to (you guessed it!) slow down again, but this time we’re going to ask ourselves some different questions for reflection.
When things aren’t going the way I’d like, I’ve learned to re-frame them and think about them differently. I’ve got to find the acceptance of ‘what is’ and ideally, the blessing in it, too. Why? Because I have learned that whatever I resist, persists. I don’t know who said that, but it’s true. Then, I pause and ask myself:
What did I do to create this situation? Or what didn’t I do? How can I choose to look at this situation differently? What do I need to learn in this moment?
There have been many times where I’ve looked at my circumstances and thought they were pretty crappy. I’d judge it by saying “it’s a mess” or “my life is a mess.” But I lacked context. I’m not saying that to be super optimistic or positive. It’s just I couldn’t predict the beauty that would grow out of those circumstances or how I’d be blessed or supported through those tough times. I started by training my mind to turn the word mess in to “mess-terpiece” (like my life is a mess-terpiece). Then I stopped saying it all together. I believe what looks like a mess can be turned into a message – or a mess-terpiece. Sometimes it leads me to take a step that feels scary or intimidating – like launching a business called Rose and Redwood.
Ready to begin?
First, pause for this moment and totally focus on yourself. Close your eyes. Let all the distractions fall away. Breathe in. Breathe out. Enjoy this moment of indulgence. Send love to yourself and your circumstances, whatever they are. Silently think to yourself, “I am going to allow myself to look at my circumstances as something neutral, neither good nor bad. I’m just going to love everything in my life exactly as it is right now. It’s teaching me about my likes and dislikes, about consequences or choices, about whatever it is that is right for me to learn right now.”
Center in on the thought: I send love to all that is, because I create a loving environment for myself, even when there’s some manure laying around that hasn’t quite broken down to fertilizer. Give yourself a hug, a round of applause and a pat on the back.
That’s it for today. Sending you blessings on blessings and big hugs. And I look forward to tomorrow with you, same time, for day eight of 9:09 is nurture time.