I was chatting with one of my good friends the other day and she had mentioned just how “crazy” life was these days. I nodded and understood.

We both knew in that moment what it takes. And what it takes is a high level of self discipline to say no so you can cultivate the peace and pace you need to live a centered life.

Lately, there are three ways in which I try to cultivate peace and pace:

• Let go of the small stuff: Running errands has got to be the #1 thing that adds to anxiety. On top of work, family, relationships, health, you name it… there’s always a laundry list of errands that need tending to. Yes, you need groceries to prepare food for the week but do you really need to send that extra email? Or pick up dry cleaning tonight??? I’ve found for myself that if I can let go of the small stuff, if I can just be OK with leaving non-critical items for later, it creates peace and a more healthy pace in my life.
• Meditation & prayer both morning and evening: I saw a show last week about a person who runs a food bank and shelter all run purely on donations. He was in a dire situation with the lease ending and no facility to be found. As he made it home he headed toward the annex and it was then the audience realized he was also a priest. As he sat in one of the pews of the small church inside the annex he prayed earnestly to God. To be honest while it was certainly prayer I saw it more as a dialogue. A communication system between himself and God. There was something about his earnest means of communication that touched upon aspects of what I previously touched upon such as letting go, compassion, and metta. What a beautiful way to share, let go, and trust you are taken care of. What’s more, what a beautiful way to start and end the day.
• Seek out the good despite the crazy: I’ve written about the power we have to choose our thoughts. And yes, while life can get a bit out of hand I have found it to be much more pleasant when we choose to focus our energy on the one thing we our grateful for vs. the one thing that could make our lives easier. What a shift in energy that is! This is also the time I whip out my inspiration journal and flip through some of the previous pages for inspiration and go into a page full of gratitude. Sometimes it’s a small win but nonetheless a win.

All that said, I am grateful for this beautiful Friday and am looking forward to a dinner party with some of my dearest friends. It’s my turn to bring dessert so I decided to make a (very tart) lemon pound cake. Gluten free of course 😉

Here’s to the weekend.

Namaste.