Recently I was able to spend a few days near Algonquin Provincial Park, just inside the edge of Quebec at Portgae-du-Fort at a close friends' family cottage.
I.needed.this.so.badly.
This visit with my friend and her daughter was long overdue, I was long overdue for some time out, and I was feeling burnt out and not like my authentic self.
Spending time being in nature is a must - there's something so pure and grounding about it. I'm not sure why us humans get so caught up in our lives and distracted from what truly matters, but we all do. The week before this vacation I actually deleted my Facebook application from my phone to cut out some of the noise and aimless scrolling. I know this may seem harsh to some, but I was finding the content I was looking at was predominantly ads, and not my beautiful connections I signed up for as the first intention of downloading Facebook. I must say that it was a simple and easy change, however the habit was difficult to master and took a few days to settle in. The noise softened greatly.
Another recent change I made was to sleep with my phone in the kitchen at night while it charged. We all know by now that blue light is not good for us the hour prior to sleep and I was struggling with my habit of scrolling/emailing/posting in bed. And then the bad habit of waking up to scrolling/emailing/posting in bed in the morning. I feel so much better already and encourage you to try these little changes as well.
Guess what? Nothing bad happened, I still have connections online, and everyone still knows where they can reach me. Those were two of my major distractions in daily life. I'm anticipating seeing the 21-day mark in fixing this as a regular habit next week and I'm truly excited!
If you are feeling distracted, lost, alone, worried, not enough, low-self esteem, unpretty, unworthy, not grounded - maybe this change can help you take a little step towards being more mindful, in the moment, and enough - because hunny - YOU ARE ENOUGH! There is a great big world out there and it is ours to discover. Don't let social media trick you into feeling that you're not enough. We have to remember that our self care is more important then what everyone else is doing.
One of my most favourite videos that I've replayed many times is by Gabrielle Bernstein - The Universe Has Your Back, on Super Soul Sundays with Oprah. Check it out here.
If you're not feeling yourself lately - take time and pause. Feel those feelings, reflect, write them down, talk to a friend, connect with friends, cry, laugh, get away, delete or de-clutter because only YOU know what you need. You are never alone and are enough.
Have a great day!
With love & gratitude,
Ingrid