So I started this bloggish thing last week with my intent to have a "Mindful Monday" post and a "Get Wise" Wednesday post. Well in true mom fashion I put my activities last and didn't begin to write until last night (Monday) at 9pm. Completely exhausted and ready to call it a night but I figured what the heck I'll just pour a tiny "Nic-a-rita" and get down to business.

The exact second I went to set my glass down next to the computer I thought I had one of my dreaded trigger signs come on. These are cues that let me know a CVS attack is about to happen (if you haven't heard me talk about CVS before then just know it's a super sexy, rare disorder that I have that makes me not able to stop painfully bowing to the "Porcelain God" for hours or even days). This stopped me dead in my tracks because I've been on a roll without having an episode in months.

I immediately caught my thoughts in mid jump as they were just about to get to the land of negativity and hopeless victim. In an effort to turn my mind around I started in with my EFT Tapping then came back to my meditative breath. A few minutes later without having taken one sip of my drink I went over to the sink and poured it out.

Why?

What I previously failed to mention is that I'm currently doing an experiment with my nutrition and eating schedule to see if I can help heal my body from CVS (I'll share more about this with you in the coming weeks but for now just know that it's focused on repairing my mitochondria with a high fat “diet.”). Well I had just got home from teaching a heart pounding spin class and instead of eating a normal meal I figured I'd just have a couple of these "fat bombs" (once again super sexy, I know) and call it good. Brilliant! So when I was slapped across the face with what I thought was a trigger, nothing else needed to happen. I knew I was pushing the limits of my nutrition experiment so bye, bye drink.

Once I calmed down after worrying that an episode was about to begin, I told myself that it was just a sign. A sign to wake-up. A sign telling me that it's one thing to be mentally committed to my plan, but ultimately, if I'm not present enough to realize that my actions don't align then there's no point in even trying.

All of this happened in about five minutes time. I quickly shifted my attention back to this post I was suppose to write. I got so focused on making this happen because it was Monday Night (darn it!) and I was going to stick to my schedule and get this done.

While I did write something, I just couldn't post it.

I finally sat back and wondered why was I putting this added stress on myself? Here I just thought I had this trigger but the norm to just go, go, go diminished it all. I knew that nothing would happen if I didn't get my post up but we put these heavy expectations on ourselves to do everything.

It was then that I realized my fist post, 1-2-3 Maui...Get Present, came back to teach me a lesson once again. I needed to get present right there at 11:19pm. In that moment the topic I was writing about didn't matter. What mattered was that I was ok.

So often I search for signs to guide me and last night I had one. I finally had a sign and it was clear. It literally stopped me in my tracks but I was so quick to brush it off that I didn't even appreciate it. It made me think about how many times each day are we given signs but we don't even take the time to open our eyes/ears/hearts to receive them. So in a "1-2-3 Maui" instant, I came back.

Life will still go on even if your daily to-do list isn’t complete. In fact, I think sometimes something good can come from it. I may not have finished my post on time but maybe this was all meant to be. Maybe, just maybe, this was the real message that I was meant to write this Mindful Monday.

So the question is, are you stopping to truly listen and be open to the signs coming up for you in your life?

What the heck is 1-2-3 Maui?!?!

Ever find yourself someplace amazing or with people you truly love and care for but you can't for the life of you just be present there in that moment? Something keeps pulling your mind away-you know like little things: work, finances, deadlines, upcoming events, etc. Well I'll be the first to admit that I'm a victim of this. I can be playing with my kids at the park on a beautiful day but my mind starts to dull the magic of our playtime. It's so easy to wear many "hats" these days as we put so much pressure on ourselves to do more and more. I may be a stay at home mom but I also run my own health & fitness business and teach group fitness classes. It's way too easy to let my mind wander thinking about everything else that I have to do later that day. When in reality all that does is take away from enjoying the present. I realized that I needed to make a conscious effort to change my ways.

I'm not sure what reminded me of this but as a kid my family went to Maui on vacation when I was in about 6th grade. I was a kid in paradise and that was that. My Dad on the other hand worked hard running a business in the windy city so this trip was a big shift from his busy day to day reality. He found himself having a hard time switching over into vacation mode. It wasn't until about day two or three that he finally realized enough was enough and that he had to let it go so he could soak up paradise before our wonderful family trip was over. Something inside him came up with, 1-2-3, Maui! He said it to himself as a wakeup call to get present. I knew he did this at the time but it wasn't until recently that I've been able to truly connect to his mantra from many years ago. I'm sure my Dad doesn't even remember or think much about how he did this but that's the funny thing about kids, they remember everything! I'm screwed. No seriously though, I want my kids to remember their mommy truly being there with them not just physically but mentally & emotionally too.

So now when I start to find myself slip away regardless of the situation I channel, 1-2-3, Maui! It helps me to refocus and enjoy the present because after all it is a gift!

Have you ever felt like this? Do you have a favorite mantra or technique that you use? I'd love to hear about them.