Rise Up

Posted in connection, Gratitude, intention, positive living, rooted, simple living, tree pose by adrianahartley

Rise up with your arms, your heart, your head, your eyes, your thoughts.

Inhale. Close your eyes and pause. Exhale.

Bring your hands to your heart center, with palms touching each other. Feel the earth beneath your feet, as you are rooted in love. Feel the sun shine on your face.

Take this moment to feel gratitude for your breath and being alive. Think about someone else that you appreciate and wish them well, in your mind.

Enjoy this moment with whatever feelings arise as this is part of our journey.

Namaste and Happy Memorial Day, honoring those who have served others and have died and gone before us, with love and gratitude.

💛

30Apr2017

Sacred Space

Posted in happily ever after, Happiness, intention, Love, namaste, one love, rooted, simple living by adrianahartley

It’s Sunday today, a day to rest and regroup. Did you visit or create any sacred space to breathe and to feel alive, to express gratitude and to just Be wonderful YOU?

This is your space right now.

I hope you have a wonderful day and week ahead and enjoy the magic of this one beautiful life you’re living!

nAMaste

16Jan2017

Be Human

Posted in connection, family, Friends, Gratitude, happily ever after, Happiness, love and light, namaste, one love, positive living, rooted, simple living by adrianahartley

I love us. I love all of us.

I think civil rights is about loving all of us and treating each other with dignity and respect, whether we want to or not, whether we agree or disagree, whether we are the same or different in a myriad of ways. It’s like the yin and yang thing and we can practice together being human and celebrating one another and learning from each other.

This MLK day gives us the opportunity to hold hands and to lift each other up again, and to listen to one another, especially with all the fear and anxiety that swirls around our society. We’re okay, you and me and them too. Keep seeing the good and loving one another. The light in me acknowledges the light in you.

Namaste

20Nov2016

Family Practice

Posted in belovers, connection, family, happily ever after, Happiness, intention, Love, motherhood, parenting, positive living, rooted, simple living, working mom by adrianahartley

The kids didn’t have water polo or soccer practice on this particular day. I had to run an errand at the mall and they decided they wanted to come with me. Both wanted to come along. I kinda wanted to go by myself. One wanted to come with just me and to leave the other behind. The other one insisted their homework was complete and that they really wanted to come along and to spend some time together. How could I resist? But there was going to be some conflict. Isn’t there always a little conflict?

I decided to invite both to join me for some family practice time. We had to practice getting along and working together and figuring out how to get along without bugging each other. Isn’t that what families are about?

They got in the car and I set the agenda, letting my captive audience know what to expect and requesting that they silence their electronic devices. Can you imagine no Snapchat? Tonight we were having a family practice night, instead of soccer practice or polo practice. Tonight we were going to practice listening and cooperating and being patient and kind. Boy, did we practice. And as you know, with practice, there is a lot of repetition.

We practiced several drills, such as choosing our words, taking turns, ignoring the endless snaps and texts that vied for our attention. We practiced patience and listening and not requesting everything we saw. We practiced waiting and not competing with each other. We practiced delaying gratification and not always getting what we want when we want it. We practiced not rolling our eyes and saying, “Gosh” all the time. We practiced holding hands, going with the flow, and putting our arms around each other. And we practiced breaking bread together.

All in all it was a good night, mixed with a little resistance along the way. I am thankful that my not so little ones wanted to join me on this night for some family togetherness and practicing all that is good.

After all, aren’t we all just practicing in this dress rehearsal called life?

What are you practicing with your family? I wish you success, peace and love!

nAMaste, BeLoveRs.

Have a good week! xoxo

11Oct2016

One Love

Posted in belovers, best friends, connection, family, Friends, Gratitude, happily ever after, Happiness, intention, Love, Mindfulness, one love, positive living, rooted, simple living, spark joy, work life balance, working mom by adrianahartley

Today I was validated. Over and over again. This is a great feeling, one that we all want, and I am thankful for the experience and this one beautiful life I’ve been given. Thanks mom and dad, for giving me this opportunity to live it up, to love this life and to laugh out loud!!

Today was chaotic and great.

I flowed. I loved. I was present.

I enjoyed my family and friends and work and yoga. It doesn’t get much better than this.

My friend chose to come stay with me last night and left today, and before she left, she surprised me with this gift that I found on my desk after uber came to pick her up and take her to the airport, so that I could be at my kids’ sporting events.

During our short time together, I shared with her that I haven’t been blogging as much lately and that I’ve been sitting with the feeling of accepting this slower pace, and not quite giving it up and not quite sure the direction it would take. I have been blogging daily for 4 years and lately have slowed down and am figuring out what the future holds.

She gave me this gift of a journal and a sticker with my favorite thought, One Love. She gets me. She wants me to continue to write, even if I choose to write privately and she encouraged me to continue my passion and to consider writing children’s stories, based on the parenting practices we shared, and practice every day.

Thank you, Jen, for this gift and for the inspiration and spark and for choosing to come spend time with me!

I love you! One Love…let’s make America great, one moment at a time!! xoxo

19Sep2016

I See Him Changing

Posted in cats, connection, family, Gratitude, happily ever after, Happiness, intention, Love, Mindfulness, motherhood, parenting, positive living, rooted, simple living by adrianahartley

I was sleeping and sitting up in my rocking chair because my head was congested and I couldn’t sleep lying down last night.

My perspective was shifted, as he walked into the kitchen and I could see him through the darkness and dawn’s early light from my chair. I liked this image.

I enjoyed this new view and waking up to him, watching him get his favorite morning meal, a bowl of cereal and milk by himself, which he normally does, but I’m usually busy moving and doing and miss the observing part. He is taller now and I noticed him growing up right there, in this moment.

It’s not that I don’t recognize the changes normally, it’s just that I had a different perspective this morning and I wasn’t in a rush and I was just observing the morning and him being there, growing up just like, that and eating simple cereal.

I noticed the piles of laundry waiting to be sorted and the cat sprawled out in the bean bag chair. (It still seems strange to me that we live with animals.) The laundry can wait.

In this moment, I was content and thankful to be aware and to notice that my baby is growing up, even with my stuffy head! Sometimes it’s cool to switch your perspective and to see things differently.

Life is good.

27Jul2016

Day 47: Summer

Posted in love and light, memories, motherhood, parenting, positive living, rooted, simple living, space, work life balance, working mom by adrianahartley

Forget the shoulds.

This was the highlight of my day. My old BFF and I went for a hike together first thing this morning and this was one of the little nuggets we unveiled.

We shared stories and ideas about life and parenting and adulting. We shared our vulnerabilities, and our joys and we listened to each other, while we enjoyed two hours moving up and down the hills together.

We talked about life and where we are now and what we dreamed of becoming and how far we have come. We decided that one of the best ways to enjoy this one life and to create our happily ever after and our Norman Rockwell moments was to live life in the moment, not wanting for or wishing to be anywhere else and to accept where we are right now. We decided that we had to stop thinking of all the things we should be doing or should have done and to be okay with what is and what we have chosen to do. We know we need to enjoy the present moment and not to compare our present moment with anyone else’s. Pretty basic thoughts, but we so often forget, especially as social media tells us stories and we create stories in our head of what we should be doing to vacation, to exercise, to be beautiful, to be a good mom, and to be whatever. Let’s stop the shoulds and the stories in our head and create our happily ever after in this moment, right now, enjoying what is and making the best out of our one, wonderful, imperfectly perfect life.

So simple, right? Wanna try? Are you ready to practice with me? Let go of the shoulds. You’re doing great just being where you are right now, doing your best.

Tonight I chose to eat ice cream with my family, even though I “should” be watching my calories. There is always tomorrow.

nAMaste

23Jul2016

Day 43: Summer

Posted in connection, family, happily ever after, intention, one love, parenting, positive living, rooted, simple living by adrianahartley

What was your favorite part of the day?

My favorite part of the day was when all 10 of us were in the pool at the same time. All the cousins and aunties and uncle were together in the water and this made me happy.

I didn’t take a single picture today and that is rare for me, especially with so many fun moments.

By not taking pictures and not being on my phone, I felt more fully present.

At dinner tonight, we all agreed to leave our phones down and it made a big difference to the experience. I know this should be obvious, but it’s not in my family, and I enjoyed us all being in the moment together with limited interruptions.

Life is good. Keep on loving each other and lifting each other up. I hope you had a good day.

Namaste

18Jul2016

Day 38: Summer

Posted in Beach, connection, family, Friends, happily ever after, Happiness, Love, memories, motherhood, parenting, positive living, rooted, simple living, spark joy, work life balance, working mom by adrianahartley

I choose to wake up bright and early every day. I have figured out a work schedule that allows me to get most of my work done while my teens and tween sleep in. Once they wake up and get moving and finish their chores, there is plenty of time for us to enjoy each other and our staycation.

Last night before going to bed, Charlie told me that when he woke up that he was going to make me eggs for breakfast. I loved the excitement of the anticipation that he was going to cook for me. I love the little things in life the most.

He woke up maybe two hours after I had been working already. The first thing he asked was if I was ready for breakfast. He hadn’t forgotten his promise. I love his thoughtfulness and his breakfast hit the spot.

I really appreciated his gesture and I think he was proud of himself. He asked to sit with me for two minutes, and how could I resist?

I think he was also excited for our beach day that we had planned and I love that he wanted to give back. While I worked, the kids got stuff ready to go to the beach and when I clocked out, we were almost ready to go.

We loaded the car and drove over the hill and were set up on the beach for our picnic by 1pm. We enjoyed the warmth of the sun and the cool ocean breeze and didn’t leave until after dinner time. The kids and their friends and the moms all had a good time and didn’t want to leave.

When we finally left, we kept with our new tradition and stopped for ice cream at Marianne’s before heading back over the hill to arrive home again. Who says you can’t have ice cream for dinner and dinner for dessert?