Taking the Time to "Just Sit, Just Be, Appreciate"

I am sitting on my swing in the garden this morning with my laptop, it's about 30C (that's about 86Farenheit), and thankfully at present there is just the slightest breeze. The kookaburras are singing up a storm (& with the humidity that's around I wouldnt be at all surprised if we had a tropical storm later today).

What's inspired me to write today, is appreciating the luxury I have right now, of just sitting here - at home - whilst so many people go about their daily grind, battling traffic jams, caught up in office politics and the whole stress of the 9 - 5 (actually more like 6 - 7!) grind. And here I am, listening to the many birds, watching a kangaroo grazing down by the creek, and thinking "WOW, how wonderful it is to be able to just sit here, to have this time to just think, just "be", and appreciate all that surrounds me.

So it got me thinking, how often do we take the time to do that? And I thought that even if you chance upon this post, and you ARE stuck in the daily grind of "having" to go to the job (and even THAT is not a "have to" - we all have the ability to make choices, to change things, to make things better), but sadly, some people get stuck in the groove of life, unhappy with their 'lot' but unsure how to turn things around. Unsure of how to make that change.......

So in trying to keep this short & sweet (so I can get back to just "gazing" - appreciating the gentle movement of the breeze as it caresses the trees, whilst the butterflies flit around, and the birds dart from tree tree, not to mention the cicada's as they start warming up for their turn to sing!), I thought perhaps I could provide a suggestion on "how" to create that moment of appreciation in your life, to just sit, to just 'be', even if right now you DO decide to continue a little longer with putting up with the Boss you cant stand, or the neighbours that annoy the crap out of you, or the traffic that you hate getting stuck in:

Take the time, MAKE the time to close your eyes - breathe deeply and just sit. You could do this in your lunch break! Put your hands over your eyes to help block out what's going on around you - just sit, quietly, allow yourself to breathe deeply and see how much fresher and better you feel after just 10 minutes of doing this! If you're on the train, bus, tram (whatever!) do the same! You will definitely feel yourself more relaxed as well as energised! Now if you're in the car, perhaps it's not such a good idea to close your eyes, but even just switching OFF the radio, take ten s-l-o-w d-e-e-p breaths. This will have you feeling more relaxed and could even start that creative side of you thinking 'inspired thoughts' !

Go on! Give it a try - I would love to hear your feedback & results. For me - I'm going back to my 'gazing' . Until next time.....

Cheers !