Mindful Living

I'm working on living mindfully every day. 

I want to focus on each day and be able to say at the end of it that I made good decisions, set healthy boundaries (and maintained them) when necessary, took care of myself, nurtured my inner artist, felt my feelings, loved, accepted, and expressed kindness to myself and others, focused on the positive things in my life, expressed thankfulness at least once for my blessings, found at least one moment of peace, joy, laughter, and beauty, served God to the best of my ability, was open to truth and new insights, and lived as if it might be my last day.

That is truly the only way for me to live. How did I do it before? Life that isn't lived mindfully and meaningfully is too overwhelming. It's depressing. It's too easy to get stuck in unhealthy patterns if you don't take the time to look at yourself and your life honestly. Then you just mindlessly repeat the patterns, making the same mistakes and wondering why you feel overwhelmed, unhappy, and dissatisfied. 

I've learned so much from counseling, reading, starting to live mindfully, building and nurturing a relationship with God, and taking care of myself for the first time in a long time (or ever). The impetus is that I'm open to learning. I'm open to truth, acceptance, and change. I'm learning to become more comfortable with discomfort (which equals growth). I'm learning to feel my feelings and cope with them in healthy ways instead of ignoring them, denying them, numbing them, or suppressing them. 

 I'm learning that being healthy and whole is more important than being temporarily happy. I no longer seek or require emotional highs. I'd much rather have peace, stability, consistency, and contentment.