Mindful Month--Day 7

Alright, we're back! I gave myself a second to breathe and I'm ready to go again. If you needed to do the same thing, I hope you're back, as well! And if you need to take a break at any time along these days, know that it's okay. 

Remember, being mindful isn't forcing yourself to be positive every single second. Being mindful is celebrating and being aware of every aspect of your life--all the feelings--both good and bad. I am not telling you these positive things every day because I think they are all you need in order to live this month mindfully. I am giving you these fun, positive things as jumping points for the positive thoughts in your days. Things to think about. Things to slow you down. Things to help you live your moments. What you do with them after you read them is up to you. And yes, I know that you most likely read them and forget about them. But, if you read them and smile while you're thinking about them, then that's a step in the right direction. 

So, on that note, let's move on to tomorrow! 

Yesterday it was hard to write my post because I wasn't feeling it. Today has proven to be a tough post for a different reason--I couldn't find anything listed anywhere for us to celebrate tomorrow! Don't you worry though, I found something...

Tomorrow, October 7th, is National Bathtub Day. (Not to be confused with Bathtub Party Day though--that's in December, or National Read in the Bathtub Day--that's in February.) So, take that how you will. I know a lot of people in my life who really appreciate their bathtub. And I know a few people in my life who are thoroughly grossed out by the idea of a bath. So, whichever category you fall into, tomorrow is for you. 

Thanks for taking this mindful month journey with me. Like I said a few days ago, I am not writing these posts for views, but as I see the numbers going up as we go along, it makes me feel good to know that at least some people are living their moments a little differently. Or maybe my mom is just clicking on the same post over and over again to make me feel good about myself? It could go either way. So, Mom, if it's you, don't stop--it's working. And if you aren't my mom and you're reading this, thank you--not only for reading, but for taking the time to do this for yourself. I really think it's worth it. And I know that you're worth it. 

 

Mindful Month--Day 6

When I thought about this mindful month idea, I thought it would be easy. I thought I would just find a fun day to write about everyday. I thought it would be easy to be positive about something fun that would help us slow down and really think our way through our days. I thought it would be no big deal. 

Wrong. 

I mean, I'm not saying National-Ships-in-Bottles-Day didn't make me happy. Because it did. I'm not saying that the thought of people doing good things on Do Something Good Day didn't make my heart happy. Because it did. But, today the thought of sitting here and telling you that tomorrow you should celebrate National Noodle Day (yep, that's a thing!) didn't seem like a thing that I could do without lying to you. 

Lyme is hard. Sometimes life is hard. And whatever you may be going through right now is hard too. And that's okay. Me sitting here telling you that you aren't fully living if you having a tough time, and if you aren't being positive, isn't right and it isn't true. You are allowed to have a bad day every now and then, and you can still live mindfully for the rest of your month, and your month isn't ruined. Your moments aren't lost. You haven't messed everything up. Everything will be okay if you need to pick back up on your mindful month journey another day. Part of being mindful is realizing when you need to step back and breathe in order to move forward again. 

That's what I'm doing. And that is okay. 

But, if you do want to celebrate National Noodle Day tomorrow, go for it! Eat some noodles. And eat some noodles for me, too. 

And we'll pick back up together for day 7! 

Mindful Month--Day 5

Well, does your life feel different? Was National-Ships-In-Bottles-Day everything you hoped for and more? Is your world a better place after a day set aside to honor the art of tiny ship building? If National-Ships-In-Bottles-Day didn't rock your world, that's okay--tomorrow is promising. 

Tomorrow, October 5th, is Do Something Good Day. (Our other option was National Bird Day, but confession: I hate birds.) And, honestly, I'm pretty sure we can all find something good to do. The cool thing about this one is that your good is specific to you. My good will be different than yours and yours will mean something special to the person that you do it to/towards/for. And, if you don't want to do something good for someone else, you can do it for yourself--that's okay too! Or you can do multiple good things! Don't limit yourself--don't limit your good--don't limit your happy! This day is the first one that you can make specific to you (I mean, I guess you could have specifically built yourself a tiny ship in a bottle, I'm not judgin') and with that, I hope you are able to live your moments tomorrow in an extra special way. 

I also hope that these days aren't getting too repetitive and boring...especially because we're only on day 5! I kind of feel, as I'm writing them, like I'm telling you the same thing over and over again. But, I hope that maybe you will find that some of the days stand out to you and you will be able to focus on those even if you can't/don't want to think about them all. If you even slow down enough to think about a couple more days this month, then you're making a difference in the way you're living your moments and ultimately the way you're living your life. 

And every extra moment you get to fully live is worth it, if you ask me. 

Mindful Month--Day 4

Oh boy, I'm not even going to talk about today first because I'm so excited to talk about what tomorrow is--it's that cute! 

Tomorrow, October 4th, is National-Ships-in-Bottles-Day. I know, I know, so cute! And the description I read of the day is even cuter. It said "a day to honor the under-appreciated hobby of building really really small boats." Umm what?! Quite possibly the cutest. I don't own a ship in a bottle. I know nothing about ships in bottles. I don't know anyone who builds ships in bottles, that I know of. But wow. I read that one on the list and I couldn't help but share it with you. Because even though you're probably sitting there thinking "Leigh, you're crazy, national-ships-in-bottles-day is ridiculous" (and even though you're correct), when you think back on your days this mindful month, I bet you're going to remember this one. Even if it's for no other reason that for the fact that it was 1. adorable or 2. ridiculous. Whatever it takes, you'll remember it, positively! And that's what we're going for, right? 

If you can live even a few more of your moments this month in a positive way, then we're doing it right! 

Mindful Month--Day 3

So, did you do it? Did you smile today? I hope so! And I hope that you can truly say that you've lived the first two days of the month, mindfully. 

After I posted my post yesterday I started feeling a little guilty, if we're going to be honest here. I wasn't getting any views on my post. (Not that I write for the views, but I do normally get a couple views pretty quickly, and that tells me that people are at least clicking on my post and seeing what I'm writing.) And I thought maybe my positivity was too much on a day when there were very negative things going on in our country. I felt like maybe I was out of line telling people to smile when there were people across the country who were hurting. And, who am I to be telling people who may be hurting on any given day that they should be happy? But, there's got to be someone staying positive, right? Not that my little blog is going to make any kind of substantial difference. But it's a little piece in a big picture. And, when I woke up this morning to two messages from friends telling me that my blog was a happy way to start their morning, I decided that I didn't need to feel guilty for being positive. So, I pushed aside the little part of me that was considering stopping these posts, and we're moving on to day 3! 

Tomorrow, October 3rd, is Frugal Fun Day. (It's also National Virus Appreciation Day (what?) and World Card Making Day.) I like the ideal of frugal fun day. Remember when I talked about jumping in a puddle?! That counts! Do whatever makes you happy, and don't spend a lot of money (or any money) doing so. And, most importantly--since we're focusing on being mindful and living your moments in a way that you will remember them--do something that you will look back on and say "on October 3rd, I did (insert fun frugal activity here.)" 

And, as you move on to day 3 and beyond, don't forget day 2. Keep smiling. It's a lot easier to be mindful when you remember why you're doing so. It's a lot easier to remember why you're doing so when your head is in the right place. And it's a lot easier to keep your head in the right place when you make a conscious effort to smile. As hard as it may be some days, it's always at least worth it to try. 

Just smile. I know you can do it. 

We're in this mindful month together. 

Mindful Month--Day 2

Welcome back! You've officially made it through one day of our mindful month! It wasn't too bad, was it? It didn't take too much time out of your day to stop and think, did it? Even if the only time you slowed down enough to think about it was while you were reading this blog post, I'll consider that a success! Solid work. I'm proud of you! 

I found out in the middle of the day today, though, that we missed celebrating a very important day today! Besides being National Vegetarian Day, today was also National Black Dog Day! For those of you that don't know, I have a black lab puppy. So, obviously I am going to celebrate him! And, obviously I'm going to include a picture of him for you right now in case you didn't have anything else to make you smile today! See what I mean about these random holidays?! Don't tell me that the opportunity to celebrate a puppy doesn't make you just a tiny bit happier.

Even though I could go on about my puppy probably indefinitely, I will move on to tomorrow's day. Tomorrow, October 2nd, is World Smile Day. This one is, without a doubt, my favorite. There were a couple options for tomorrow; World Smile Day narrowly beat out Name Your Car Day! So, tomorrow, take a few seconds to smile. Smile at someone you pass by on the street. Smile at someone in your class or the person behind you in the lunch line. Smile at someone you work with that you normally would just walk by. Smile at the lady in the window in the bank drive-through even though she didn't smile at you. Smile at yourself in the mirror. Just smile. It takes two seconds, and you never know the difference it can make, as cheesy as that sounds. I don't even mean that in the sense that you don't know the difference it can make in someone else's life. I mean, you don't know the difference it can make in your own. 

Slow down. Take a moment. Live that moment. And just smile. 

Mindful Month.

Hi! Hello! Long time no see! I'm back. No excuses as to why I haven't been here. No stories about where I've been or what I've been doing (read: haven't been doing). Let's just jump right back in, shall we? 

Alright, so tomorrow is the first day of October! It's finally Fall! If you know anything about me, you know I love Fall. I love hoodies. I love the smells of Fall. I love the holidays in Fall. I love how cozy everything feels in Fall. But, if you know anything about me you probably also know that I do my best to find little things that I love all year round. I try to find little reminders of the good things everywhere. And I will be the first to admit that I love the random little holidays that pop up throughout the year--"tell your dog you love him day," "national jump in a puddle day," "eat as much ice cream as you want day." Okay, so maybe I made those three up...but they made you happy, didn't they? You can't tell me that the thought of randomly stopping for a second and telling your dog that you love him doesn't make you smile. And you are probably lying to yourself if you don't think that jumping in a puddle could be fun. And, don't even get me started on the excitement of eating as much ice cream as you want (considering of course your specific lactose needs, since a majority of the people in my life have those--don't go crazy just because it's "eat as much ice cream as you want day" and then blame me for the consequences!) 

But, fun aside, you know what else is cool about these random days that pop up throughout the year? They slow you down. They make you stop and think about the specific day that you are on. The day that you are having. It's so easy to let the days fly by us. It's so easy to let time pass and then look back and realize that we missed it. It's so easy to get stuck in the hubbub and not realize that the days that are going by will never happen again. Ever. 

I'm that person that remembers dates. Before Timehop and Facebook "on this day" memories existed I was the weirdo that would randomly throw out the "three years ago today this happened" fact that no one else remembered. I remember things because things matter to me. I remember things because I fully live in moments. And I'm not saying that to make myself seem better than you. I'm saying that to make you want to live your moments too.

So this month I'm challenging you. 

It's easy to think about October 31st, because that's Halloween. But, by the time you're there, you've missed the first 30 days of the month. And how many times have you stopped and thought about those days as they've gone by? It's so easy to get to the end of the month and think "wow, October is over already!" without even realizing that that was 31 whole days that you could have individually stopped and consciously lived if you would have made the effort to do so. 

So, I've put together a list for you of days that I found for us to celebrate this month. Some of them may seem silly. That's because they are. But, silly still makes you slow down and think. Silly makes you smile. And that in itself is something you may not have done, otherwise. Take that for what its worth. I personally think a smile a day is more than worth it! 

Tomorrow, October 1 is National Vegetarian Day. I'm including this one because I happen to love a couple vegetarians. When I was reading the descriptions of this one, they varied on what this day actually meant. Some said to take this day as a challenge to be a vegetarian for a day. Some said to research the change that vegetarians can make in our world. Some said to hug a vegetarian. So, do with it what you will. I'm simply sharing it with you as the first one because it matters to people I love. And what better way to start your month than with love? If vegetarianism means absolutely nothing in your world, that's okay. Think of something else you love and come back tomorrow!

Actually, come back every day this month! Stay tuned to see what you can do to live your days, and your moments, to their fullest, and to be mindful of every moment you have. 

Let's have a mindful month together!