Guest Post by Libre Leading Lights Tanis Frame
“I’m insatiably curious and a relentless researcher. I have decades of experience as a biologist and environmental health scientist, which makes it easy for me to sift through the science on thorny topics. That’s my happy place – using science to see through complexity and get to the heart of things.”
Presence is a Choice: You get to pick!
The holiday season is ramping up. Can you feel it?
This can bring a sense of great magic, ritual, tradition, love and joy.
It can also bring the torment of overwhelm, scarcity and inadequacy. Feeling we don’t have, or are not doing or being enough. Perhaps our family or experience may not measure up to the ideals cooked up in the media or in our dreams.
Expectations, our own, or even from others, can take us away from experiencing the magic in our everyday moments –perhaps just as often as picking up our phone does. These two culprits can rob us of our life… IF we let them.
I don’t know about you, but the traffic on my phone has ramped up along with the season, and it’s easy to numb out a bit when we’re looking for a distraction. Sometimes mindlessly flipping through our Facebook feed can nourish us with joy and connection.
And sometimes it can leave us feeling… well… crappy.
When I start getting caught up in the mayhem and expectations of the season my mind starts hopping around like an annoying socialite at a Christmas party on 5 double shot americanos. Living with a brain on that program is EXHAUSTING. And pretty soon either the Grinch or the Scrooge character seems to move into my head and take over my experience of the holiday season.
Unless I choose to do it differently.
Here’s the thing: Thriving in our lives is a choice.
The more often we choose to be truly present in our moments, present to our life, what’s ACTUALLY going on – in us and in front of us – in any given moment…. The more we thrive.
Whether it’s noticing the sun reflecting off the new dusting of snow, the sound of giggling children, or the pile of dirty dishes being just what they are – dirty dishes – not a reflection of our self-worth or our handle on life. Heck, maybe we could even look at that pile of dishes as an opportunity to sink our hands into warm soapy water or sink into a great conversation with someone as you tackle the pile together.
The devotion with which we meet our life is in the thousands of choices we make each day. And we cultivate a way of being that allows us to choose presence more easily and more often.
Here is a wee trick I’ve been using and it’s the most powerful five-minute turnaround I’ve found – I invite you to give it a try!
Seriously… this will take FIVE MINUTES… and it may just transform your day.
STEP 1: Notice when you’re feeling overwhelmed or discouraged by the expectations you have for yourself, your day, your holiday time.
Step 2: Grab your phone and put it in airplane mode.
Step 3: Put on your coat and boots and head outside.
Step 4: Expect to see magic and miracles.
Step 5: Capture FIVE photos on your phone of the magic you see in nature, in the world… a snowflake, a bloom, the way the light is bouncing off the car windshield, the clouds painted on the sky, the squirrel racing across the path, the child laughing, the mom wrangling a toddler mid-meltdown… they are all beautiful magic and miracles.
I challenge you to capture FIVE photos in the FOUR minutes you are outside.
Step 6: Take a deep breath and revel in the miracles and magic around you.
Then go back to your day and turn your phone back on. And notice if you feel any difference. I bet you Rudolph’s shiny red nose you WILL.
That’s it! Now seriously, try it and share your photos with us!
Since we’re talking about PRESENCE and ‘tis the season of PRESENTS…
I made this for you. Because there is one thing I know for sure:
When we decide to thrive, we play by a different set of rules. If you’d like a beautiful high-resolution copy – download a free printable copy on my site.
Go grab one right now, print it off and post it somewhere you’ll see it regularly – because you deserve to be surrounded by beautiful inspirational things.
Things that bring you back to being present for YOU.
Let’s navigate the holiday season with more presence this year, as we start playing by a different set of rules together.