We’ve all been through a lot in the past few years. How are you doing?!
For me, I realize that the parts of me that shifted into survival mode never really shifted out. The panic around work I felt when the pandemic hit in early 2020 — anxious spirals, chronic multitasking, and an almost constant need to be working — hung around after the lock-down ended.
While I understand why those behaviors began (hyper-vigilant self-protection anyone?!), I also realized that these “practices” were not supporting the future life that I want to experience.
Whether you realize it or not, you are practicing things over and over again. And those practices are creating your future experiences.
Some of them are internal — like your thought patterns, beliefs about movement + food, the way you speak to yourself, and body image.
Some of them are external — like how you show up in relationships, your movement practice, how you engage in work, how you interact with your kids, and your eating behaviors.
They are the seeds that will grow into the garden that will be your future life (I’m not a gardener, but boy oh boy do I love a good plant analogy). We are all planting seeds, watering those seeds, and watching them grow. We are also tending to the gardens that we planted long ago, as well.
Many of us don’t even realize what we have playing on repeat! Take a moment to welcome awareness:
What am I practicing internally in my daily life?
What am I practicing externally in my daily life?
Next, I’d love to encourage you to ask yourself:
What do I want to be experiencing a year from now?
Now, it’s time for the question today that can truly change your (future) life:
Are the things I’m repeating over and over again today aligned with the experiences I want to have in the future?
Some of them may be! This is an opportunity to practice gratitude for these practices.
Some of them may not be! This is another opportunity: first, to practice self-compassion, and second, to practice something different.
I’ve felt so empowered by not only the awareness of my practices but in knowing that the shifts I’m making today to be more present are creating the future that I truly desire.
Because “how we get there is where we will arrive.”*
Love,
Sim
*From the Phillip Booth poem Heading Out
