Living Life as a Parent: Are You At A Choice Point?

Wow. The holiday events are over almost and the celebrations to mark the end of 2014 are only a few days away. How are you doing? How are you really doing?

I would imagine most of us are experiencing a deep level of exhaustion. There is physical exhaustion, yet were talking about something much deeper than just the physical. This kind of exhaustion is physical, mental, emotional, and maybe even spiritual. This happens every year for most of us. By the time we plan and plan, then host or attend gatherings, deal with people and expectations, we ‘re done. Totally done. We still go through all the plans and gatherings, yet we are burnt out. Does this feel familiar to you?

Usually this week is when we hit a choice point. This choice involves our opportunity to step back a bit and begin self-advocating or ignore the inner tapping and go further into “I don’t care” mode. The choice is about you and what you are able or willing to do at this time, on this day. With all the festivities continuing, there is food, alcohol, over activity or inactivity, and lack of sleep.

This is the key choice point that can turn us around, ground us into ourselves, and prepare us for the year to come. Perhaps you need to stop with the sugar, immediately. You may need to go for a walk or get some exercise. Or you need to take a day off and rest. Perhaps you can resist filling your wine glass again? What is it that your inner knower is tapping you about and how can you take a moment and honor that tapping with listening?

This has been one of my biggest challenges during the holiday season. I usually get ramped up with excitement starting mid December and slowly slip on what I know is good for me, and my body. I start cheating a little here, and there…first with sweets, then with food choices, with wine, and I don’t get enough sleep. By the time I get to the post Christmas week, when company usually likes to come to ski and be on vacation, I can feel my body’s struggle with the excesses and loss of routine. I can also feel the disconnect to my soul and this ends up creating reactions to life that are fed by triggers, body aches, and a short fuse J

I am at my choice point. It is now, today, that I know it is time to choose me again. It is time to return to the support of my yoga and my routine. It is time to get more sleep. It is time. Where are you in this choice point? And what can you actually do about it this week?

First, do a mini check in. Feel your body. Feel your energy level. Feel your connection to yourself. Feel your connection to those around you. Feel.

Next, choose one thing you can do for yourself today to step out of the chaos that may surround you. This might be a choice to stay home, away from the stores and crowds and take a nap, or a long bath. You might choose to move to a quieter room tonight and journal or read a book and go to bed early, and let the rest of the house continue on. You might get up tomorrow morning early and do your exercise routine, or get outside for a walk and reconnect to yourself.

Then, once you have made once choice for yourself, check in again and see how you feel. Can you feel your body craving the self-attention? Is there another choice you can make that will continue you to get you back on track? Can you do this within the world of family and friends and still enjoy their exuberance and activities?

Last, how can we be in the flurry of celebrations and activities that accompany the holidays and nurture ourselves? When we are run down we are not fully present. When our bodies are unhappy, we are not fully present. This choice point always arrives when we know we are or have disconnected, and we get to decide if we take this deeper and just let it all fly, or if we catch ourselves and realize we can really have more fun when we are connected and fully present.

This week, choose yourself. Give it a try and see how different you may feel. Remember, we choose to gather with those we love so we can feel the love. If you are rested and balanced, the love flows easier. Bringing yourself back to center is a fabulous way to give the gift of the true you to those you love.

As the end of this year draws to a close, and you have been reading these blogs and getting some ideas of how to navigate in a different way, what do you think about creating a new and different way of ushering in the New Year? Whether you have plans or prefer to stay home, here is a little exercise to do on the Eve of the New Year, or on January 1^st.

Enjoy yourself. Enjoy how wonderful you are this week and it is my hope that the anticipation of what is possible in this year ahead fills your heart with love.

Next week will be the 7^th and final blog of this holiday series. We will talk about how to create spaces in our lives for new energies to enter.

Blessings.

Denise