It’s 2022. How’re We Doing?

It may already be time for a reset.

January has flown by.

I’m an author who writes about the need to pause, breathe, and reflect. I pontificate on how our society doesn’t seem to value these things, how we humans need to assert our right to just STOP every once in a while so we can feel, think, ruminate, and grow.

And yet I awoke this morning with jaw clenched, shoulders shrugged up around my ears, low back aching, skin itching, throat thirsting, and my brain ensconced in the type of fog that used to only occur after a too-long night of avoidant imbibing. I realized these symptoms hadn’t just appeared overnight; they’d gradually been creeping in and claiming space in my body, mind, and soul for weeks.

I just failed to pay them any attention.

First, We Acknowledge the Truth

I’ve had what some people might call a humble success: I published my first book this month and am receiving insanely gratifying feedback from readers all over the world who are putting into practice what I teach and write about — namely, how to detach from Ego and start listening to (and acting upon) our Authentic Self.

I’ve connected with stupefyingly talented and courageous people who are willing to dive deep alongside me in a never-ending quest for freedom from our self-inflicted bondage, to try and connect with something bigger and bolder than the tiny little houses many of us have constructed for ourselves.

I’m on the precipice of something quite momentous. I know this because, for quite some time, everything just seemed to flow. When that flow abruptly stopped, I could have practiced what I preach by pausing, breathing, and reflecting on why that might be. Instead, I ignored the (many) signs my soul was giving me and plunged ahead with my current distraction: Filling out an online application for a job at my local university.

I don’t want a job at my local university.

I want to pursue the life I’ve always said I wanted — that of a person who gets paid to write for a living. I took my first few steps down the path that will give me this life when I chose to drop everything and write a book. I dipped my toes a little further into the waters of fulfillment when I actually hit “publish.” But instead of diving all the way in, I’m backtracking and letting that little voice that’s never been my best friend convince me of the logicalness of getting a Real Job (with vacation time accrued after only one year!) instead of putting everything I have into becoming the writer I know I Authentically am.

Hence, the loss of flow. And hence, the myriad physical symptoms.

Now, We Breathe

I published my book and stopped breathing.

Not really, obviously. I’m here typing words so that must mean I’m still kickin’. But I stopped taking those deep, full, conscious belly breaths that mindfully bring me back to the present moment — the only moment that genuinely exists, and the only time I can take meaningful action to propel myself forward.

January has been a month of unconscious existence, with more time spent in the what-ifs and should-haves of the past, or projected fears of an uncertain future, than in the peace of What Is and certainty that comes with making choices from a place of Authenticity.

So I breathe. I re-read passages from my own book and connect with human beings who’ve been there, done that, and refused to buy the postcard. I return to what I already know but sometimes forget: I have within me all I need to be prosperous, joy-filled, and successful. My journey is my own and my path can be as smooth or as rough as I’d like to make it.

I inhale all of the possibilites of a life not yet complete, and exhale completely and deliberately my intention of living it fully.

Where We Go From Here

Where do you need to pause, breathe, and reflect?

What’s happening right now, in this moment? Are you sitting or standing, walking or lying down? Are you listening to music, the news, or your family as you skim through these words?

How’s your body? Does it ache anywhere? Are you cold, hot, or uncomfortable in any way? Where and how are sensations popping up?

How’re your thoughts? Are they spinning? Are you in the past or the future, or are you fully present in the Now?

Pause. Breathe. Reflect.

What is the one choice you can make or action you can take RIGHT NOW that will give you your reset?

And where will you go from here?