Have you walked into a room and forgotten what you went in there for?
It sucks to forget.
But it’s worse to be forgotten.

Since the beginning of time, man has sought to be REMEMBERED.
To leave his mark.
To make an impression or impact.
Like a paint handprint on a wall – the very first graffiti announced I WAS HERE, shouting across the ages – I exist!!!
A mark, impression, impact.

But over the years I’ve learned to distinguish between making an impact and shaping an impact.
Between just existing and being truly CONNECTED to my days.

I wanted to live a more abundant, expansive life with adventure and possibility, and pass that example on to my children.

As a mum, wife, and qualitative researcher turned property developer, I was on the slippery continuum of bored to busy like a battery hen, pumping out egg after egg after egg. I couldn’t switch off or wind down. I never sat down to watch TV at night unless all the chores were done and the house organised. I was functioning BUT disconnected and disengaged.

The first step in getting off the treadmill is to literally STOP.
Pause.
Breathe and notice life with all your senses. To look, listen, smell, feel, touch, and truly NOTICE life all around you.

Like Kate who was on a similar treadmill of life. Bored and busy, checking through lists. She’d tried meditation, and it left her flat, another thing she felt she hadn’t mastered.

• For her, we started with mindfulness meditation. You can do it ironing or driving – but really giving yourself to the task 100%. (Battery Hens love this one).
   
• Once you get used to focussing, we step it up with 5 minutes breathing meditation, sitting, and focussing on your breath.
   
• Once you’ve mastered that, we might move to a full body scan, checking in with yourself and how you feel, limb by limb.
   
• And beyond that, perhaps a walking meditation. One of my regular practices is taking a break, walking around my garden really drinking in my surroundings.
   
• Finally, another favourite – goodwill mediation; sitting, breathing, and repeating a few affirmations; “May I be happy, may I be healthy, may I be calm”….and then thinking of someone else and directing that positivity their way; – “may you be happy, may you be healthy, may you be calm.”

I’ve written a lot about serendipity and luck and how a lot of “luck” simply comes down to being alive and engaged enough to NOTICE the opportunities others miss in the frenetic pace of life.

So this long weekend try STOPPING and implementing one of these meditations. Let me know how you go!

PS. if you want more of these practical tips, I’m running a “Finish Strong” four week group coaching series to end the year on a high, ready and prepared for 2023. I’d love to have you along. Check out the details here….