slow me down…

Not long after I had a consult with my Bowen theory supervisor (see blog post titled “Just Do It” ), I decided to connect with a sports psychologist I’m acquainted with for some extra thinking. Her thoughts on the correlation between stress and injury fascinated me, but what I appreciated more was her thoughtfulness regarding my desire to recover my convictions.  Beyond the simple command of “Just Do It,” she encouraged me to delve into a more cognitive approach, which goes something like this:

List your values. Now list 1-5 actions that correlate with each value. As you go about your day, try to be mindful about the actions that you are performing and thus the value you are engaging. 

Now THAT’S what I’m talking about.

So my values that come to the fore, in no particular order, are:

Compassionate Living, Simplicity, Integrity, Faith, and Health.

I won’t bore you with the details of actions. That and the fact that I think many of those are mine and mine alone. But in the past week as I have sought to re-orient myself, my life toward these pieces and beliefs of me that I hold so dear, I was reminded of the “me” of not too long ago,

only a year ago, to be exact.

Who was more centered, more peace-filled, more grounded than the “me” I am today.

As I have brought these values back into my horizon, I was reminded of so many practices that have fallen to the wayside, practices that drew me closer to the world around me, that reminded me I was not the only one taking up space on this lovely piece of earth, time and space that sidled me closer to my neighbor, regardless of their own awareness.

So, to life and a life worth living and a life well-lived.

A self-examined life.

A slow life.

L’Chaim!