DouceLifeAt50.com

by Romaine Duc 

I love my daily morning routine.  I do not get out of bed until I’ve listened to a guided meditation.  The days I am working I set my alarm clock to make sure I have time to relax and just look forward to the day ahead.  The days I am not working my body seems to know when to wake up, I just let it be. I have been listening to Deepak Chopra and Oprah Winfrey “Shedding the weight”.  Oprah introduces each daily meditation, Deepak guides us towards thoughts that will improve our perception, the way we look at things. I enjoy my morning bed routine, I don’t seem to be able to clear my mind for a whole 15 minutes though.  Before I could get discourage I came across “Getting Unstuck” by Pema Chodron through the audiobook app from my local library. I was surprised to find out that even she has trouble quieting her mind sometimes. So each morning I just look forward to relaxing while improving and clearing my thoughts.

One common theme I seem to gravitate toward is living a healthy and carefree life which entails looking at my life and finding the abundance in it, to be mindful, grateful, kind towards myself and others.  This morning the suggestion was to look around me, pay attention and notice things either inside my house or outside. Lately I’ve been enjoying taking pictures of the season, so armed with my phone I stepped outside with my dog and decided to look for five things and record them, with each I made sure I looked at it closely before I took the photo.  I know my yard and the inside of my house and its content well but I will enjoy discovering new things about them. My challenge to notice everything around me is just starting, it should grow my joy and make me appreciate even more how I live my life.

Sometimes we think we need to replace things when all we have to do is just look at them with new eyes.  The same goes for people, we often are too busy talking about what is wrong with the world, the economy, or the people who don’t agree with us to even listen to them.   We are all inter connected, the world is a wondrous place, there is more right in it then wrong.  By being positive, kind and loving we can make it even better. I have challenged myself to pay attention to what is around me, to notice the beauty, to really look and help where I can.  Each positive or negative thought has a great influence in our universe.  Our genes predispose us toward empathy, all we have to do is follow their guidance.

Have fun discovering what is around you!