It finally dawned on me!

Is it possible to have a more relaxed day to day life while fully enjoying it? Are you there yet? If so, what is your secret? I don't know why but I used to need to do everything quickly so I'd have more time for "everything" else. Everything around us bets on speed: Internet connection, mail delivery, cars, photo developing, fast tills in the grocery stores, fast food, quick cookers, fast growing plants ...not to mention the worshiping of multitasking! And in spite off all of this, we still wish we had a few more hours in a day because there really is just so much we can achieve in the mere 24 hours.  I wish my house was clean and shiny every day, my laundry and ironing done, the food I cook super healthy and tasty, I would like to have the time to go to the dog shelter, to exercise, curl up with a good book, write letters, read the blogs I follow I am addicted to, post on my blog, watch an episode of my favorite TV show or a movie, meet with friends and so much more! All in just one day, of course. You didn't think I was talking about life in general, did you? Wouldn't it be grand to be able to do all that in just one day? Plus sleep and go to work? I can't do half of it and I am on sick leave! For the second month in a row. My body had enough. And it didn't use gentle whispers to let me know. Maybe it has, I may not have been listening very well...or at all is more likely as the signs were there for months. My thyroid went crazy (hyperthyroidism) and it has shaken my body with a magnitude of 8.1 Richter scale. I started to pay attention.  I know I can have all I mentioned above but I need to change the way I go about it and primarily change the way I treat myself.  The prescription pills started working and most of the less worrying symptoms got milder but hyperthyroidism causes anxiousness, restlessness, unusually fast heart pulse as well and they kind of stuck with me, so I thought meditation sounded like a good place to start.  There was no epiphany after the first class but I wasn't expecting one. I have learned in the past few months, that change doesn't happen overnight. I need to find my inner peace as my body feels like it's fermenting. I need to slow down in everything I do: talking, reading, eating, typing, cleaning, working... as it only brings more stress instead of less. I always seemed to be in a rush, but if I happened to slow down for a reason I accomplished the same amount of work and I felt so much better. I need to focus on the task at hand and I can't do that if I act like there is no tomorrow. So many women do so much more than me in a day and some make it look like it's an effortless thing as I don't see them running around like headless chicken. I need to learn how to better live my life. I always appreciated the little things in life and my health but some blog writers helped me get an even clearer picture of what it is that makes life a more joyous one: watching donkeys play, catching a glimpse of their pink tongues, wondering how does a cat end up stealing almost every picture frame, caring about raccoons found in the walls or taking the time to look for them in a tree hole,  learning about the "weeds" in someone's garden, falling in love with opera, growing your own vegetables, taking care of disabled animals and loving it, taking care of horses without ever complaining about it, walking through a forest really seeing it, sharing your knowledge and good advice, immortalizing moments with a camera and sharing the pictures with the readers, learning about the life in the country or Africa, reading a witty/interesting/funny/hilarious/sad blog post, receiving feed back on what you had to say.... It is possible to live better, to live with less, to have a new quality to life. This should be my goal for 2010. My endocrinologist said this is the time to reinvent my life - the prescription pills will help lower the hormone levels but from that point on a lot depends on me.  And I am going to give it my best try: meditation, relaxation, enjoying the nature, loving myself more, pushing myself less, learning to be (more) patient and less irritable... learning how to stop and just enjoy and accept what life offers (or throws at me). Oh boy, this is going to be a remarkable year if I manage to achieve what I set myself to do:)))) 

Let me see where can I start.... I should cut down on some very time consuming habits. If I checked Facebook, my e-mail once a day instead of 10 times, I am sure that would save me some time. I already diminished the number of blogs that I tried to follow regularly and the result is that I enjoy the ones that I still read so much more! And I learned to only check those I can see on my Dashboard items as it tells me if there is a new post for me to read. I stopped watching some of the TV shows that I used to watch and there will be even less when I go back to work. See? I can live with less! Baby steps, baby steps.....

What.... did you think there will be no photo? This is me in Ireland. in 2008.. where I felt in peace with the universe (it was amazing!) ... I want to feel like that again and again and again...