A Glass of Wine, Two Girl Scout Cookies, and Three or Four Pieces of Chocolate

Posted in Uncategorized by adrianahartley

How did you experience joy today? What did you say YES to?

We put so many restrictions on ourselves and set up our own set of complicated rules – but WHY? Life is too short. Let’s laugh more.

What if we set up rules and structures to give ourselves permission to laugh and have fun and to relax and feel and experience REAL joy – in the moment? Maybe bend the rules or change the expectations just because we can, even if we do look silly? Maybe not in every moment, nor every day, but maybe every so often when the moment strikes?

I find fun and laugh and am silly every day, and typically I make my family laugh too, even when they are less than happy. It’s good for my soul and it makes me happy and I hope it helps them too. I don’t take things that seriously, because really, we’re all struggling with something, and wouldn’t we rather laugh and move through the struggles as quickly as possible so that we can get back to joy and the pursuit of happiness and peacefully co-existing together?

Today I found personal joy in food and drink. I had more chocolate than usual and a glass of wine that tasted so good with the chocolates. I enjoyed every bite and sip, even though I know I shouldn’t because I’m trying to lose another 5 to 10 pounds – (it’s a life long journey, right??) I’ve decided it’s ok if it takes a little longer because I’m working hard every day to exercise and eat right, but sometimes a girl just needs to indulge and be ok with that too! And I don’t feel guilty, because I loved the experience of enjoying the food and so my shouldn’ts turned into enjoy-the-moments today and I smiled. I’ll get there…

I found joy today by letting go of my plans to clean and do homework with the kids right after school and instead, bringing the kids to the tennis courts to enjoy play time and sunshine before the rain comes tomorrow. They just had to stay up a little later to finish their work and that’s ok too. Being flexible is another good life skill, right?

I found joy in spoiling the kids by getting them Panda Express for dinner after their practice and play, even though I had already made dinner and had it already ready for when we were to come home, because really, their dinner idea was much easier and more fun than the healthy one I had made. I want to think I’m teaching them flexibility and to let go of all the shoulda’s as in “we should go home and eat” and “we should be doing our homework.” Hopefully I’m not just spoiling them, but that would be ok with me too, now that I think about it. I like spoiling them as long as they are grateful and kind, which I think they are. I actually really enjoy being around them and am fully aware that they’ll be leaving the house sooner than I’ll probably be ready. I am enjoying the moments, just like all the wise women have told me to do.

What did you do that was fun today?

What made you laugh and smile?

How did you experience joy?

Hmm… I’m curious. Namaste.

23Apr2013

Day 271: Have You Filled A Bucket Today?

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Have you heard of this book? Charlie’s class read it recently and he came home talking about it and shared it with me. He asked me to play with him and invited me to just come hang out with him. We then played foosball together and laughed and had fun, doing something I didn’t expect to do. I, of course, had 100 other things I “had” to do, yet I stopped to play and was so happy afterwards, mostly because he was happy and also because I had fun sitting on the floor and enjoying my kid. Afterwards he asked if he had filled my bucket? It’s a connection to the story that teaches children the meaning of bucket filling and bucket dipping and encourages positive behavior. I loved that he was thinking of ways to make me happy.

So today we were at his school, and giving our family friend, Darryl, a tour of the school. The kids were excited and proud to show him around. Charlie wanted to show him his classroom door that was decorated with the book cover and mini buckets that each student wrote on and decorated, explaining how they filled someone’s bucket. Charlie wrote about how he filled my bucket by playing my favorite game with me. I love it!

Darryl said that his son also read the same book and shared that with him. What a small world.

Watching the kids give Darryl a tour and showing him the art displays, music rooms, food tech, design tech, Dutch and humanities classrooms was very touching to me. I love that they were proud of their school and that Christian was taking pictures so he’ll remember it after he leaves one day. They filled my bucket today!

This picture is a piece of art from outside the Dutch classrooms.

It was very comforting having a friend from home come and take the time to drop in on his way to a business meeting in Delft. We enjoyed making dinner together with the kids and afterwards went for a walk to the park and played until bed time. I love that Darryl was open to just flow with the kids and enjoy just being with our family for a few hours, and played outside until near dusk. Thanks for coming, Darryl and for the British treats! But now you’re making me miss home!

Life is good!! Have you filled someone’s bucket today?

16Apr2013

Day 265: Warrior of Peace

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I can’t stop thinking of Boston and am saddened that our world is filled with some people who are filled with anger and want to hurt others. But at the same time, through the stories, I find hope. I hear how humanity helped one another amidst the chaos. I hear of people who were there who are loving more deeply and living in the moment, knowing that we don’t know what tomorrow brings. I paid attention to the stories of generosity and giving and loving.

I choose to focus on peace, despite the chaos, every day.

I choose to love those around me.

I choose to forgive those who hurt me.

I choose to love those who cause pain.

They must need more love in their lives.

I hope I’m not naive…

I choose to teach my children to love one another and those around them too, every day.

We focus on making connections and avoiding conflict when we can. We are creating peace, every day… not perfectly, but we keep adapting and trying again, even when we fail.

Today we went to visit the Anne Frank house and shared stories of hate and discrimination. We talked about the human spirit and the pain that people have to endure. We talked about survival and death. We talked about dictators and followers. We talked about those who helped the Jews. We talked about how we can make a difference. We talked about love.

We talked about the attacks at the Boston Marathon. We are open and honest with them in small doses.

I hope my children make their own connections and find ways to be their own little warriors of peace.

We can be the change we want to see in the world.

Namaste.