On simplicity redefined and slowing down.

In my new mantra to learn to let go and embrace the ‘imperfection” that I am defining myself and my life of late, I am also redefining simplicity. After months and months of feeling overplanned, too busy and not even the ‘good busy’ kind of busy, I had it. I declared getting back to basics and uh, simplicity.

And paring back how planned I’d become, and prioritizing plans and making a pact with M that we always run plans that involve each other by each other before committing (this was key – we kept planning on top of each other and it was frustrating! seems like a no-duh, but clearly we were not doing it, or doing it enough!) really really REALLY helped. I felt less stressed, less rushy, and happier, generally.

But this weekend, in Maine for ‘#lakation13’ part two, I came upon a realization that my definition of simplicity was again changing. Well, let me rephrase that. My definition of simplicity and my feelings towards ‘busyness’ have shifted a bit. I go into this next ‘season’ of my life with the believe that simplicity means paring back my commitments but it also means prioritizing my commitments to those that matter  most to me…and that may again feel like a ‘no-duh’ statement, but I was feeling myself shifting towards ‘planless’ er, planning to mean no plans. And that’s not what I wanted to do. I wanted to just make sure whatever I do, I do it because I want to, and if that means it makes a certain timeframe busier, with all of the other things that I may already have on my plate – work travel, meetings, barre n9ne classes or events, things like that, that I don’t shy away from plans with someone I care about ‘just’ to not be busy. That feels silly and somewhat counter-intuitive. Yes, there are times to say ‘no’ because there simply isn’t enough time in the day, but to almost automatically say no because you have something else going on that day, weekend or week? Not the same thing.

This realization came in part because of the Slow Down Challenge that came at just the right time. A challenge my beautiful friend Lindsay forwarded to me, and wow, was it right on. Every single daily message and challenge has been bang-on. It’s as if the writer – Jeff Goins – is writing this just for me. Legit. Every work.

For example? Multitasking and jamming everythingthatcouldpossiblyfitintomydayandbyGodiwilltrytofititin.

Hi – that’s totally me. And it’s robbing ME of the goodness that lies in focusing on the here and now, the conversation I am having, the meeting I am in, the quiet time I am savoring with M after work. It’s something I am working on, but it’s also something that is easy to let slide when life gets busy.

But that shouldn’t be an excuse and that is why I really just need to keep focusing on that. The here and now. Not this, that and the next.  Right. Now.

Simplicity

…yet prioritizing.

Life

….yet embracing ‘good’ busy.

Slowing down

…focusing on the here and now.

a FULL life.

Right now, my life feels so FULL.

In SO MANY good ways. SO many.

And I will NEVER lose sight of that, or how blessed I am <–just in case it wasn’t clear already by my gushy posts of late 😉

~~

But right now, when I say full, I mean, full, like WHOA, full. 

As in, somuchhappeninginthenexttwomonthswhatshouldidofirst….full.

Let’s just lay it out there so you can see what I mean, mmk?

4/20: POUND training! This is going to be super fabulous new class at barre n9ne, and I cannot wait to spend the day training for it, but it also means more work gearing up to learn, learn, learn before we launch!

4/25-4/28: Napa! A little jaunt to Napa with M, as he has a work conference to attend and *twist my arm* – any trip to wine country and I am THERE. It will be so fun to explore Napa  a bit together as we have typically stuck to Sonoma Valley/Healdsburg in years past, and a little trip away is good timing for a few days away from it all.

4/28-5/1: From Napa, we fly to LA and head up to my company where I will work Monday and Tuesday and FINALLY, after two years, get to show M where I work, meet some co-workers and show him around. AND to have him WITH me on  a ‘work trip’ is so awesome,  especially as it just so happens THIS girl and her sister will be in Long Beach the same weekend and we can finally all meet up (my second time meeting Heather, but my first meeting her fabulous sister!!).

5/7-5/9: Vegas. Yep, criss-crossing the country within LESS than a week to go to a conference for work. Erghh. Everyone thinks Vegas is awesome to go to for a work trip, but since I legit will be seeing the inside of an expo hall at Mandalay Bay for all of 36 hours, and then stepping into a cab and heading to the airport, I find it a titch difficult in seeing the glamour of it all. But I digress. It’s part of the gig and given I really DO like my job, I will go it, shift my focus and enjoy what I can, right??

5/30: We CLOSE on our house!! Yessss!! (and move two days later, June 1). BUT, approximately the same week? My boss goes on maternity leave for 12 weeks and that leaves ME with a shitton more to do covering for her and me for those months. Impeccable timing. Not. (once again, I will shift my focus, I will look at this as a huge learning opportunity once again, as this was why I was hired two years ago, to cover her leave, and step it up…so this time around should *hopefully* be a little less chaotic since I know what I am doing at this company now…for the most part…)

6/17: Fly BACK to LA/Costa Mesa for another work trip. Um yeahhhh. That’s like 6 criss-crosses across the country in less about a month and a half. Shift, shift, shift…

There you have it. My life? She be FULL. VERY full. So my plan to get ahead of the chaos is putting a moratorium on plans on weekends where I can in order to simplify my life as I head into one of the more hectic times of my life, and one of the most exciting, all at the very same time. 

Progress…(somewhat) under wraps.

First of all, thank you so much for your kind words, well wishes, and support for us as we launch into our first home together! It truly means so much to have so many, near and far, care, send support, and pray for us. More than words can say.

(and reading, and rereading all of your comments just makes this feel so much more real, I can’t even stand it! wheeeeeee!!)

~~~

I feel as though – again – I’m silently moving ahead with our plans, to live, to marry, to be and I am not quite sharing it all here. Yes, it is purposeful. Yes, it is with some sense of intent. And yes, it is worth doing this the way we want to do it, and moreso, for ME to do it this way. M knows about my blog, of course (though he used to not, as some of you know!), and supports whatever I decide, in terms of how disclosive I am here, and in ‘real life’ with regard to…well, us.

But at the same time, I *miss* sharing some of this excitement and progress here. And I plan to post more on these things, but probably more so after they have happened, similar to discussing our house plans. Partially out of fear of the proverbial ‘jinx’ and partially because privacy is often underrated, I think. And I need to respect that  – for me, and us – more now than I ever have before.

…just know that good things are in store. Big things. Fabulous things. Uniting things. Soon. Relatively soon. And it’s so damn awesome, I can hardly contain myself. Clearly.

Progress…under wraps.

*file under: being secretive* <–though it is so damn hard!!

~~

In other not-so-secretive progress ‘news’ – it’s amazing how each day, I feel more and more in tune with my body. More ‘in love’ with me, versus writhing against who I am, my body, my habits. I feel like I own them more, I am confident behind them, and don’t need as many crutches as I have in the past.

I own my eating habits. I know my body. I know what fuels it. I know what it likes. I know how to keep it balanced. And that has taken so long to get a handle on…but it’s been so worth it!

I continue to focus on balancing the ‘smarter, not harder’ mantra, especially when I want to tiptoe over that line because I love what I do so much. I love to teach, yet I love to take classes, yet I love to run. But I can’t do it all, every single day. I need to choose, be selective, yet still get my ‘me’ workouts in where I can and where makes the most sense. Some days are harder than others to realize this, but then I go back to two things: be smart. And embrace the ability.

And, I continue to focus on being my own best friend, loving myself for what it can do, not for what (I perceive it to) not be able to do or look like. Nobody is perfect, so why not strive for excellence, balance, and happiness, instead? Life is too short for perfection, IMHO 😉

~~~

So…life progresses. In so many good ways. And also in some upcoming challenging ways. But I feel ready. Far more ready than I ever have. And that is worth rejoicing, and embracing, isn’t it? 

FEF: volume II

Awhile back, I waxed poetic blogged about it being ‘finally effing Friday’ (hello longer than LONG week and chock to the brim with activity!) and today? It feels warranted to celebrate FEF yet again.

Because it’s been another doozy. Mostly in a good way. Just one of those weeks where I felt like M and I were ships passing in the night (we had one meal together this week, and tonight won’t even have that!). And not even so much because I fell back on my motto to simplify either, just a week where M had lots of meetings after work and I had several evening plans as well. But in the choas of this week comes a few very fabulous things I am loving. So, celebrate, shall we?

I am loving sister dinners.

As part of my quest to make more room in my life for what matters most, sister dinners was a top priority. These nights are so special and NEEDED for the three of us, to really connect as sisters, without our men, or families, or anyone, around, just us. Being silly. Sharing in a glass of wine (something my sister Jen rarely gets a chance to do!). Laughing. Venting. Catching up.

And sometimes a special guest joins us to make it that much more perfect. This Wednesday was sister dinner WITH that special guest…my niece Isabel. She is at SUCH a fun age, and she melted me into a million pieces with her running full speed in for a hug, her kiss on the lips and how she says ‘hi auntie’ in the cutest little voice I have ever heard. She’s also a fan of the selfie and we took many of those to capture the night. My most favorite collage of all time below 🙂

Sister dinners…worth the busy week to cram in and do right.

I am loving my expanding role in barre n9ne.

Another reason my week was so busy – but in a valued, good way (just so happened that everything got planned for the same week, M’s busy week and mine, the perfect storm for ships passing in the night!), was a long-awaited meeting of the b9 minds (LOL. That would be me, Jess and Tanya) to discuss even more ways to make barre n9ne better, bigger, and stronger. My sister and I are officially taking on more of a marketing/PR/social media role at the studio to help make this happen and I couldn’t be more excited.

Melding my passion with what I’m good at (PR/social media)? Perfection.

And, helping even more with the 60 day challenge, refining it further, helping clients be successful? A dream.

Bringing in new events, features, and classes and teaching even more? Words cannot describe.

And, I am loving looking back at the past four (!) years since I began my journey anew. 

You see, Tara at Relative Evolutions asked me to write a guest post for her on my evolution, from then, until now (she’s had quite the journey herself, and I am so proud of her, and happy to see where she is now!!). And it’s taken me weeks and weeks of ruminating on just how I wanted to capture it, and the inspiration to put it all together. Here is the finished piece, and I am so proud of it, and my journey. I don’t write on the topic nearly as much, but it just makes my heart happy, proud, and filled with gratitude about my life now.

So, while I am celebrating FEF fervently today, I am feeling grateful (albeit relieved the week is nearing an end). And I am feeling so fortunate to be surrounded by those I care about. Because this weekend? It’s Friendsgiving, folks. Third annual, and it’s going to be the best one yet 😉 Hope you have a fabulous weekend, shaking off a long week, and enjoying a much deserved weekend! Cheers!

An update on simplifying.

It’s been a few weeks of reallyreallyreally focusing on simplifying. Everything. Life. My schedule. My workouts. Every.thing.

And I just gotta say, I already feel so much more at ease, more relaxed and with more time. Not even literal time so much as time to breathe, observe, notice things that I wouldn’t if I were crazily jumping from one planned thing to the next.

Like when M hugs me extra tight on his long days at the office (Tuesdays, when he gets home after 8), or the ability to really focus on putting together a ‘refreshed’ b9 class with just a few teeny tweaks that sometimes make *all* the difference (I always change my classes up, everysingletime, but taking time to step back and do something just *slightly* differently has felt like a treat!). Or looking at my calendar for the weekend and realizing I don’t have ONE thing I HAVE to do. Just stuff I *want* to do.  This weekend was BLISS because of that. One of the most fun, fulfilling, enjoyable weekends in a long time.

A month ago, I felt jammed into a corner and overscheduled in every sense of the word. And the worst part was that I did that to myself. Nobody did it for me. 

I realized that I was making plan after plan, I was the one taking that initiative and I guess, taking the initiative perhaps a wee bit too far and not prioritizing enough.

I was shortchanging life by trying to do too much. Counterproductive, much? 

And as I sit here thinking about the things I want to do, that I’m inspired to do, it conjures up all sorts of other things I’d love to fit into my life naturally, with the freed up time I have (and no, not to then go and overschedule myself again!).  See the friends that mean the most to me. Make my workouts as intentional as possible, not out of ‘have to’ or ‘need to,’ continue to expand my repertoire of yum foodie creations with my latest obsessions – lentils, butternut squash, dates. (pinterest, come to me!). Finish that book I started in Mexico. See my sisters regularly (check! sister dinner this week and hopefully becoming a weekly or bi-weekly thing ongoing).  And, plan that marriage I keep ruminating about.

It’s sad to me that I was so scheduled that I was missing out on things that I most wanted to do. And I never really want to fall into that trap again. Who’s with me on this quest for simplicity? Join me, will you? Do one thing to simplify your week this week, or conversely, DON’T do one thing to simplify your week this week. What is it?