It’s easy to get caught up in dreamy ideals or always thinking about what’s next. One day we’ll do that spectacular something we’ve always wanted to do or become more insightful, compassionate, and loving. We’ll buy that house, take that trip, go back to school. Of course, it isn’t bad to have dreams, it’s great and absolutely necessary to look at the larger picture, but what isn’t helpful is getting lost in what could be to the point where we ignore everything we are, all we do, and the great things already in our lives.
In fact, always living in the future can create a big inner split, where our outside routines look nothing like what we desire deep down. That’s because we’ve stopped living in the present moment. Instead, we’re off and running ahead of ourselves, lost in between living what is and what’s yet to come. This is how we miss the small picture of what’s really going on in our day-to-day and the things that are right in front of us, like what we’re actually doing and thinking or postponing and rejecting.
A good way to give yourself a healthy reality check is to make a list of what goes on in a typical day and then take some time to sit with it and see what you actually think and feel about these things. Noticing your small actions and subtle feelings that form the actual building blocks of your everyday will show you what’s got you stuck or what’s absolutely amazing.
Maybe you find it all really does suck, but my guess is there are things in your day that are absolutely incredible but have just been taken for granted because they’ve become routine or expected. Whichever way it goes and whatever comes up, writing it down gets you to see in black and white what you’re really up to, and more importantly lets you consciously choose whether you want to keep it up or change it up.
Always eating a crappy breakfast? Maybe that’s the source of your chronic indigestion. Did you forget your partner makes dinner almost every night? Big plus, be grateful, say thank you. Do you love your dog going bonkers when you get home, or sitting in the garden with a glass of wine, or eating pancakes in the middle of the night? You see where I’m going here.
I know, it sounds small, but that’s exactly the point. The truth is our lives are built on a million details that taken altogether form what we actually live. The more aware we become of them the more we can shift closer to or farther away from what helps or hurts. It’s these small adjustments that can change everything. In the end, how we live our days is how we live our lives. Being aware of and choosing more of what we love, appreciate, and are grateful for fills all the nooks and crannies of our days and lets us create a big, beautiful life.
A bigger vision comes into view when we notice the small picture.
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