Countdown to Contentment ~ Day 6

 Loving ourselves and life from where we are 

I’m counting down to contentment — to the starting date of my new sacred journey course,“Creating a Life of Contentment,"  which begins Sept. 15. For one entire year we will travel together as intimate companions: to relax, let go and rest into Love; to discover the bliss of our own life. I hope you will join me! You can learn all about it here.

Taking Ourselves Lightly

Let’s be honest. Sometimes those of us who are dedicated to “the path,” take ourselves pretty darn seriously. I’ll be the first one to raise my hand on that one.

Even my mother (whom I adore) called me on it not too long ago. “Jan,” she said, “does everything have to mean something?”

Ha! You got me there, Mom.

But when things go awry as they did for me this week, I remember that it’s good to laugh at myself now and then—admit I’m not perfect and, thank you very much, I am done trying to be.

If you’ve been following this blog series, you may have noticed that the actual “Countdown” to Contentment suddenly went from Day 10 to Day 7 in a nanosecond. Where did they go? Into the black hole of my mind space that likes to mix up numbers.

I thought I had planned the Countdown perfectly. (There’s the “P” word again.) Yet, yesterday I realized there were not 10 days left but 7. Big oops!

Oh, well.

I say “oh, well” a lot these days as I age. I chuckle at and forgive my mistakes.

“Oh, well” doesn’t mean I don’t care. It is not a statement of apathy or dismissal. It means I will have compassion for myself when things do get messed up because, in that very moment, I was trying to do my best. As my dear mentor Sylvia B. tells me, “Jan, if you had known a way to do it differently or better you would have!”

Now that is wisdom.

Here’s the deal on the mixing up numbers thing—i.e. the Countdown. I’ve had this issue all of my life. Is it a form of dyslexia? I don’t know.

Case in point. When I was a classroom teacher and I had to send out invitations for Parent-Teacher Conferences, the numbers game would play itself out, always with a big mix-up. The parents would call and say, “I’m confused. Do you want us to come on Wednesday or the 25^th, because the 25^th is not Wednesday.” And if they didn't call to clarify, I'd have double-booked parents because they'd show up on the "wrong" night.

This happened every darn time for 10 years!

No matter how hard I looked at those numbers and dates, I would nearly always transpose them. Because of that, I do try extra hard to get the numbers and dates matched up correctly. But when I don’t, oh well.

So that’s my story—offered with an "oh, well," a chuckle, and a little bit of eye-rolling, maybe even an “Oy.” Such is life.

If we can’t take ourselves and our “flaws” more lightly, who will?

I feel more contented when I am lighthearted, don’t you?

"The person who laughs at himself will never cease to be amused."

~Shirley MacLaine

 

 

 

Will you join me for the "Creating a Life of Contentment" course beginning soon? 7 days and counting to the sacred journey of a lifetime!

Learn more and register ...