Hey there pals!<\/p>\n

This morning I was running late, which is not a very frequent occurrence for me. But instead of running around like a chicken with my head cut off–which is the default setting when I am<\/em> late–I decided to try something different.<\/p>\n

I looked at my clock and realized I had slept in by 20 minutes, then put my head back on the pillow. Counter-intuitive, I know, yet it was magical. I allowed my body to stretch, my eyes to begin to adjust to being open, and sat up slowly. I didn’t think about all of the things I had to get done, I just let my body wake up and start moving. I leisurely went about my morning routine, consciously skipping the steps I didn’t have time for (eating breakfast at home) with quite a bit of detachment.<\/p>\n

Aside–detachment is not the lack of caring, compassion, or awareness. It is the detachment from the outcome of actions, it is non-judgment of oneself and the world at large, and it is the acceptance of what IS rather than what should be.<\/em><\/p>\n

I simply did what I had time to do, quietly and meditatively. I was present–really aware of what I was doing in the moment–with each action, each step, each movement.<\/p>\n

And then a miracle happened. I packed everything I needed for the office today, including my breakfast, got everything in the car (including the dog), and was at work earlier than usual! I took the spare 15 minutes to eat breakfast and make a nice cup of coffee before my scheduled yoga class. No stress, no mess. Not too bad for starting the morning 20 minutes late!<\/p>\n

Now, at one point I started to panic because I was almost ready to go and I had forgotten something and I was sure<\/em> I didn’t have time to find it. At that moment, I took a breath, let the panic be, and started to focus on the task at hand. As I ran upstairs to get what I needed, the panic began to subside and I was able to bring a calm awareness to shuffling through the laundry to find what I needed. And I was still early!<\/p>\n

The moral of the story? The more you stress out about getting stuff done, the less stuff you get done. The more you stress about being late, the later you become. The more you stress about being stressed, the more stressed you become. It is a vicious cycle we work ourselves into. And if you can let go of the outcome, things go quite a bit smoother!<\/p>\n

Have a calm and detached day!<\/p>\n

Thanks,<\/p>\n

Liz
\nCreating Mindful Balance<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hey there pals! This morning I was running late, which is not a very frequent occurrence for me. But instead of running around like a chicken with my head cut off–which is the default setting when I am late–I decided to try something different. I looked at my clock and realized I had slept in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,23,7,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-meditation","category-musings","category-news","category-yoga"],"yoast_head":"\n