This year, in January, I made a public pledge, here on my blog, to live by Intention. To live life, and not let life live me. To have goals, yes; to take actions which will work towards my goals, yes; but most of all, to make progress. Every day. I am finding myself more excited than ever, with all the projects I am working on, and this kind of passion only happens when you’re doing something you love. There are moments when I’m sorry I didn’t discover this truth earlier – but then I give myself a good kick and remind myself that I did have a bunch of other amazing experiences, that there’s no going back, but there’s a lot to do going forward.
My observations (for myself) are that if I focus on taking care of myself health-wise, this supports me to then focus on the next items on my list. When I drop that first ball, no matter how I look at it, I don’t have 100% to give my clients, my family, my “projects”. Everything slows down when I do.
Making progress means I need to be focused first. I need to understand what my ultimate goal is, and be prepared to do a couple of key things; one, is to say “no” to certain things that won’t support me in achieving that outcome; and the other, is to be prepared to get out of my comfort zone. As I have hit 50+, I feel that I need to keep growing, keep learning, more than ever. I don’t want be stuck with the status quo, even if it’s comfortable. My mind needs to feel progress. Another observation, one I’ve felt since I started this journey with yoga “off the mat”, is that the great thing about progress is that you’re never quite done. You’re never finished. Once you achieve one goal, you realize there’s another exciting goal calling for you!
I am in the process as we speak, of planning some new programs/events for the spring and fall. Some of them are bigger than I’ve attempted in the past, but that unknown, that discomfort, that risk I’m taking is exhilarating. I’m not just referring to taking a monetary risk; that’s one part. I’m referring in large part to the risk of failure. I’m referring to the “what if” game that sometimes plays out in my mind. Once again, as I said above, I kick myself and bring myself back to this moment. This moment where every phone call, every email that moves my projects forward, is good.
So how is this related to yoga exactly ? You learn on your mat to listen to your body when it speaks to you, and the places you most often feel those whispers, are in your gut, or in your heart. They often know, before you or your mind understand. I’ve learned to listen to those whispers. They keep me grounded in the present, but also propel me to keep doing that crow pose – no matter how often I fall on my face! For yoga teaches us that it’s about the journey and what you’re learning along the way, more than any outcome you may think you’re striving for.
I sleep well at night knowing I’m making progress. I know I need my sleep as there’s a lot more to do the next day. ♥