hands free mama

 

"at least three times every day take a moment and ask yourself what is really important.

have the wisdom and the courage to build your life around your answer."

(dr. lee jampolsky)

i loved this book, for many reasons.

i try hard to put my phone down and enjoy the moments that are happening around me. but i could be better. i can always be better.

i try hard to not focus on my to do list. but i am not going to lie, i pretty much love a good to do list and equally love checking the boxes off of that list. i am a big huge fan of action items being completed. big time.

i try hard to live in the moment, go with the flow, and enjoy the moments as they occur. but sometimes there are more "just let me finish this" or "in just one second" or "i will be right there" than even i would like.

this book was a great reminder through the words within it about really focusing on the priorities for my time, and then giving those priorities they time they actually deserve. "because someday is nowhere to live your life" and there are definitely times when i think that i will getting to important things "someday" and the truth is that i can be getting to them today.

some of the key reminders that i will take away from this book are:
+++ put the phone down
+++ using time in the car to connect. to not make calls. to not mentally go through what i need to do at work or at home. to not check out the latest on instagram when i am a passenger and could be talking to those in the car with me instead of flipping through pictures (this is a tough one, because if you know me, you know i love my instagram account;).
+++ really thinking about the things on my to do list that truly need to be done, because in reality, if many of those boxes don't get checked, i am pretty sure that the world will keep turning.
+++ choosing to enjoy the moments, and remembering that dishes, bills, laundry, and all of the other things that came up everyday can happen later. they can always happen later, moments of "mom, do you want to play with me?" won't.
+++ saying no and not feeling guilty about it
+++ focusing on saying "i love to watch you...."
...and so many more -- i think that there was something on each and every page of this book that i connected with in one way or another.

i was very connected to a page towards the end when there was a reference to melanoma that i was not expecting. there was a list of things that the author is doing in honor of a woman who died at age 43 from melanoma. some of the things on the list include "i will take the scenic route", "i will take a chance if it is something worth fighting for", "i will pause for sunsets, goodbyes, and belly laughs. i will acknowledge such things are miracles. everyday miracles." that page at first felt like a sucker punch to the gut because i of course was not expecting any references to melanoma in the book. but, as i read through the list, i felt some peace from knowing that the woman's life would be honored in so many ways by her friend. quite an amazing tribute, and that is something that melanoma will never be able to change.

if there is someone that would like my copy of this book, let me know, i would love to pass it on. my only ask is that you then pass it on next to someone that you think would like it too. this is definitely one to be shared. first dibs gets it. in full disclosure, you will have to be ok with a copy that has some red strawberry stains on the side of about 40 pages;)

happy thursday peeps -- one more day, i am pretty sure that we've got this.