Do you ever just hit pause and try to evaluate your life as a third party? As if you're a stranger or a character in a book. It's so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and forget about the bigger picture, that I find myself repeating the same habits and expecting different results so frequently.
I've been taking yoga more or less consistently for about seven years, and have always hit a few roadblocks in my practice. I fail hard at crow pose and can only hold a headstand for a moment or two, and, until recently, haven't gotten much out of savasana, or the meditation often encouraged at the end of every class.
I FINALLY broke through with meditation while practicing at Padme, and feel like I'm getting the most out of my classes now. Because of it, I've tried to translate that mindfulness into other aspects of my life and am only barely succeeding, but hey it's a start.
I hope this is something you guys can relate to, too, but it's really been a psychological rollercoaster trying to figure out if what I'm doing in life is on track with that I want for myself. I mean, really, doesn't everyone go through that?
I've realized a couple of major things because of it...
One: I'm supremely humbled. I realize how little I know, and how much I have to learn. That's been a hard pill to swallow, not going to lie.
Two: I value happiness over everything else. Life is too goddamn short to put up with toxicity (people, workplaces, relationships, whatever), lack of sleep, and being treated unfairly. You, and only you, has the power to monitor that.
Three: You can literally do whatever you want. Literally. You just have to make it happen and decide what your priorities are.
I hope that, from here on out, I can practice mindfulness in my daily life, and I hope that you're able to glean something from this, too. I don't frequently open up like this here, but I thought it was kind of time to say it out loud.
Tee - IRO (I bought the men's style since it's on sale & it's cut nearly identically to the women's, just larger. I'm wearing a M but could have gone for a S.)
Jacket - Banana Republic (Sold out, similar. Last seen here)
Skirt - Isabel Marant
Boots - Vince (also in grey and black)
Bag - Chloe
Hat - Janessa Leone (last seen here)
Bracelet - Miansai
A good friend once used this "headlights" analogy and I still think about it from time to time...
If you're driving from Sacramento to San Francisco at night in rainy fog, you can't really see the road ahead. You can see a few feet in front of you that your headlights illuminate, but not the next few miles or the entire way. But you're just comfortable enough to keep going because you know the general direction in which you should be moving, and you know those few feet, so you keep at it.
So if you ever feel like you're moving in the dark, just follow the headlights. You're going the right direction, you just can't see the whole journey until you've made it.
