I Am

Image courtesy of Free Digital Photos.net

I woke up early again this morning, after seven hours of good sleep. Colden was still fast asleep, and Tom had already risen and started chicken chores and clearing the driveway of last night's snowfall.

Before I started breakfast, I rolled out the yoga mat and sat in quiet meditation for a few minutes in front of the wood stove. Just following my breath, setting my intentions for the day. I let my monkey mind run around for a few minutes before I quieted it and let myself go deeper.

Did a few gentle stretches to get the blood flowing, and I hadn't realized how stiff I was. My back creaked and my knees popped as I got into the dynamic poses.

To end, I sat in meditation again for a few minutes. Once again, I brought my intentions for the day come to the front of my mind. I thought, "I am happy. I am healthy. I am productive. I am creative."

I thought a lot about the "I am happy" part. I thought about all the things that I feel like I *have* to do during the day - things like doing the dishes, the laundry, making the beds, cooking dinner. Some days, I just get no joy out of those things - I mean, really, does anybody really look forward to doing housework and chores?

Then I started to think about how happy Colden is in the morning when I serve him his oatmeal or his scrambled eggs. I think about how it makes Tom happy that I cook healthy food for dinner. And making them happy makes ME happy. Making others happy does, indeed, seem to be the way to make yourself happy, sometimes.

Don't get me wrong - there are times when I just *need* to ditch it all and hide out in a warm lavender bathtub with a good book and a couple of candles for a while. I'm not saying we need to ignore our own needs all the time, but thinking about how you can make your loved ones happy is a pretty good start to figuring out what makes YOU happy.

So, I've dropped my kid off at preschool. I've set my intentions for the day. I've settled down in front of the computer with some music and my water bottle. I've got two or three big projects to work on this week, one of which is a dream I've had for the last three years. And I think it's finally going to be a real thing!