You Can't Always Eat Life's Veggies!

By Michelle:

I remember when I was a new mom and learning how to care for my babies. There was so much to learn, so much to do and be aware of. I remember learning about how to feed toddlers and how they can be finicky. One day they love something and the next, they hate it. The important thing I learned was that as long as they were getting a balanced diet over the long haul, they were OK.

It was a hard concept to embrace because as a mom you want the best for them and you think that veggies at every meal is the most important thing you can do for their diet and yet the reality is that it just isn’t always possible. Looking out over the month or 6 months to see that maybe they didn’t eat what you wanted that week but they made up for it the following week was a very important lesson for me.

I think this way of thinking actually applies to all areas of our lives when it comes to trying to find balance. We seem to want to strive for this idyllic life that is perfectly balanced each and every day. We want to exercise the perfect amount, eat the perfect amount, take time for self-care, nurture our children, our houses are perfectly clean, we nurture our friendships, volunteer, and…the list goes on and on.

The reality however is that sometimes we just can’t eat our veggies! Everyday isn’t going to be perfect. Some days we may be lacking in self-care or our house is a mess and we haven’t talked to our friends in weeks because we are too busy.

Sometimes we have deadlines or commitments that we have to honor and other things have to be put aside for the time being and guess what, it’s OK. Our lives are like the earth’s seasons and each season has its own energy and is designed for a specific thing. We aren’t meant to plant vegetables in the winter and we can’t always accomplish the things we “think” we “have” to.

This is where I think it is so important to have a strong foundation for what your priorities in life are. What is most important to you? What are your intentions for your life, your family, your work, your social life? Once you know what you can and can’t live without, you are able to make choices based on what is best for you in the moment.

I think the best way to do this is by learning to turn inward. I know we talk a lot about this here at Inner Alignment Mandalas and I think it is crucial. Time and time again when I am working with people and I see that they begin to incorporate this idea into their lives; things magically begin to happen for them.

It is through establishing a relationship with yourself that you will be able to live your life aligned with your highest calling and sometimes that might mean sprawling out on the couch and watching a movie. It might mean staying up late to work on something because you are so inspired and it might mean turning off your phone and having a quiet night at home with your family. It might mean all of those things…over a period of time…spread out to where you might not even realize that you are living a life of complete balance for YOU.

Personally, I’m hitting my busiest time of the year and in the past I let myself get completely stressed out about how I was going to handle it and get everything that needs to get done. But now I don’t feel that same stress. I know what my priorities are and during this time of the year they are different then they are in the fall or the winter. That’s my life and while I have been known to complain about it, I wouldn’t change it so now I am embracing it.

This is such a powerful practice, one I would like to invite you to bring into your life. Spend some time going inward to get clear on your priorities and your intentions for your life. I have been using my I AM Love Mandala to help me get centered and tune into the energy of self-love. This has helped me be gentle with myself and forgiving when my days don’t unfold the way my thinking mind would like. If you haven’t downloaded the I AM Love Mandala, I would like to encourage you to do so and use it daily. It can be just 1 minute of focused attention that can change everything. I also took a picture of it and put it on my phone so I can look at it when I’m sitting out in the 30 degree weather watching a baseball game. Woo hoo! I love spring!