Flying Dinosaurs & Other Ridiculous Distractions

It happens to all of us. We start out with great intentions, a plan of action, perhaps even a list; and then, out of nowhere, dinosaurs breathing fire trample on our car and we are unable to get out of the driveway to do what we were headed to do!!

...too far?

Ok well, basically what I am saying is that ideas are great, plans are freakin' awesome, lists are super helpful, but the fact is, life happens. There are things outside of our control that are going to come up at inconvenient times, and there is also a lot that we CAN do to be more present so that when those out-of-control times happen, we aren't as overwhelmed by everything we have yet to complete.

Presence opens the doors to sooo many magical experiences. And if we are too busy being distracted by cell phones, social media, television, overeating, and all of those other outside distractions that cause us to miss out on certain parts of our lives then we are wasting time.

Lately I have been talking a lot about what we can do to support our children, and in today's message I would like to offer you something that is just for you. (Sneaky monkey confession: This will also serve your parenting, your relationship with your partner, AND your relationship with your Highly Awesome Kids...gotcha!)

Take a moment and think of a time, recently, that was considerably overwhelming for you. Perhaps something was going on with the kids. Maybe you and your partner got in an argument. Things may not have been going great at work. And then, bam, all hell broke lose!

In that moment, what did you feel? 

More often than not, we jump to the fight or flight response when we feel that way. For example, I recently got in to a heated discussion with someone I care about and all the alarms started going off in my body, honking and screaming, "Get out of here! Run for your life!!"

Before offering myself the gift of presence, I would have run for the hills. But today I want to give you a different option. And that is to stop for a moment, recognize where in your body you feel whatever emotion you are experiencing, and tell yourself, "I feel *this* and IT'S OK". 

It's ok.

It's that simple. Are you laughing at me yet? It's ok. (hehe). But it really is!

One of the biggest distractions that I have noticed in myself and in my clients is that we try to tell ourselves we are not feeling a certain thing that we really are...funny humans... And the next one is that we try and tell ourselves, and sometimes others, that it is NOT OK what we are feeling.

And that could not be further from the truth! For heavens sake! The reason we are here on this planet is so that we can experience these feelings. EMBRACE THEM ALREADY!

That's probably enough tough love for the day, but the truth is, these feelings come up for a reason. They are here to tell us something; about ourselves, about our surroundings, about our experience, about our existence! And the more we deny them, and act as though they are wrong, or bad, or inappropriate, the more we deny ourselves as a whole. And in doing so, we teach our children to do the same.

Now, I don't know about you, but I am in the business of making sure that every child knows, and LOVES, themselves; fully and completely. So let's make a choice, shall we? Let's choose to be more present for ourselves. Because when we do that, we spend less time running from ourselves, and more time embracing. And when we are not running, we spend less time on social media, television, overeating, texting, and so on, and more time engaging with our families, spending time with the people we care about and taking proper care of ourselves.

You can do it. I absolutely believe in you. And I am right there beside you every step of the way.

Love, Light and Unicorns,
Erin Stephanie
Fearless Leader for the Highly Awesome

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