I really don’t know where to begin, so I will start writing and see where it leads. Starting is easy; staying on any track long enough to finish the job is a challenge as shiny squirrels are so enticing.
Shiny Squirrels?
Ahh, your local squirrels aren’t shiny? Mine either. In Brevard, North Carolina, there are white squirrels. But I’ve never seen a real shiny squirrel – other than as a Christmas ornament. On the other hand, I have definitely seen beautiful, sparkly objects and activities and possibilities that attract my attention. Yes indeed I have.
I’ll bet you’ve seen a squirrel scurrying around your yard, too. They appear to zoom from one thing to another with no rhyme or reason.
I watch them dig under fallen leaves, then zoom over there for something.
They cross the power lines way above the ground here, scoot down the tree there, and then deftly navigate the narrow top of the fence to another secret cache of nothing at all under the leaves.
Shiny squirrels are distractions.
Shiny squirrels are master magicians tricking you into paying attention over here while something else is happening over there – where you *should* be paying attention.
You’re busy paying attention to:
- that damned iPhone,
- the latest news about–
- rumors,
- gossip,
- TV shows,
- talk radio,
- news,
- celebrities,
- politics,
- the entire internet–
- scrolling, scrolling, scrolling, scrolling on that damned phone, and
- everybody but you.
We’re scrolling and scrolling as if the next scroll will save our souls or answer the one big question, or fix the issue of the moment, and then everything will be OK.
What Really Matters
These past months I thought I was going in one direction. But then the movie PGS: Intuition failed to sell enough tickets to be shown in Mount Pleasant, and I stopped.
I’d say that was the turning point for me, but that would be a lie. Two trips to the local emergency room on two consecutive days is a more accurate assessment of when that bottom hit this time.
[Total non-sequitur: I’m fine, in a future post I’ll write more about exactly what happened – then break down how I reacted. So no need to call or write or wonder why I have only told a couple people. Stop worrying!! If I’ve had dinner with you recently or talked with you recently, and didn’t mention it, there’s a reason: I’m fine. The details about this are on the way, provided no more shiny squirrels show up…
Oh wait.
What was I writing about?]
Shiny Squirrels Do Not Matter
Shiny squirrels are in cahoots with your ego mind, that part of you that wants to be in control of everything all the time.
The ego mind corrects you, criticizes you, and always has an answer to everything – except when it really counts.
My mind was attuned to negativity, I was overwhelmed with taking in too much information, I was on the computer 15 hours a day, I was reading big books, and was feeling way out of sorts. To top it off, I wasn’t eating well. I wasn’t caring for myself.
That is, I was showering and doing *that* kind of self care to maintain, but not celebrate. I wasn’t doing things that matter to me:
- Spending time with friends and family
- Loving on my furry friends – Ivan and Nebula
- Walking in nature (I barely worked in my garden at all this summer)
- Doing things that are fun
- Laughing out loud
- Listening to music that I love
- The list goes on…and on…
So Just Stop Already
Whatever you’re doing right now, just stop it.
Take a deep breath in and look around you. Give thanks.
Pause just a bit longer, and take a darned good look inside yourself.
Have you forgotten to do something that feeds your soul?
Has a shiny squirrel distracted you? Have you wavered in your deep love for yourself, others, and this magical world of ours?
Breathe.
If you can change course right now, do it.
If you can’t, pull out your calendar and make plan an escape plan. My coach talks about finding joy in micro vacations – little escapes through the day.
Can you find five minutes?
Life is not about shiny squirrels. They’re cute little devils, and devils is the optimum word here.
Beware those cuties!
Beware the shiny thing that just caught your attention!
And breathe.
You can do this Monday, this week, this life just fine.