Time Change Alerts!

It's that time of year again, the clocks are moved forward one hour so that we can have light well into the night. The darkness in the morning really confuses my mind and body. It is hard to coordinate the two and get out of bed. I know this is temporary and I will soon adapt. I feel like I lost something and want it back. Throw in a bout of bronchitis that won't go away, a wicked virus and you have a recipe for some massive confusion! We change our clocks and go about our business. I read an article recently about setting your internal clock. Karen Salmansohn writes, "Be sure to set your internal clock to live in the NOW--everywhere you go. This reminder will save you lots of lost love and happiness--jolt you into living your best life possible!" So is your internal clock set on NOW? "The Buddhist author Rinpoche warned that if we humans are not careful, we can sleepwalk through our lives, afraid to feel our deepest feelings, afraid to risk going for our truest desires." (Karen Salmansohn) She also paraphases Rinpoche stating, "We have a 'Western' tendency called Active Laziness, our urgent need to cram up our lives with compulsive unimportant activities, leaving little leftover time to confront our most important issues. He jokingly renamed all the petty projects which we call our Responsibilities as our Irresponsibilities because they stop us from finding the time to do what matters most." Well shucks, who knew, I have been very irresponsible! I make these massive to do lists, get side-tracked, proscrastinate and then stress out when certain goals are not met in a timely fashion.

I guess I should eat the elephant one bite at a time instead of trying to swallow it whole! Consider making reasonable and sound choices about what is really important in your life. Is it necessary to accept every invitation, volunteer for everything, cram so much little stuff into each and every day that you end up in survivor mode rather than slowing down and enjoying the scenery along the way? Children live in the present moment, in the now...they don't make to do lists and then scurry around trying to accomplish the stuff on the list. They sure don't dwell on the past and the future is too much of an abstract thought for younger children. Attending an event with children allows you to see things in a whole different light. Enjoying the now. So my big plan is to make wiser choices, learn from the past, move on, plan for the future but live fully and enjoy the NOW! As soon as I quit coughing....