Are You Willing to Sit for the Present?

Here’s a throwback…

Did you ever re-read favorite books when you were a kid? Mine were Beverly Cleary’s books, and I loved her character Ramona Quimby.

Ramona’s teacher asks her to “sit here for the present” on the first day of first grade.

She takes “sit here for the present” literally and desperately wants the gift! She refuses to leave her chair for any reason for hours. It’s terrible for her.

Squirmy & squirrely, she dives into deep mental negotiations about whether it’s worthwhile to just…sit.

My experience being present is the same: mentally difficult and noisy.

When present, we become self-aware & reflective. It can be difficult to see shit we don’t want to see.

Why am I asking you to do this work?

Because self-awareness & reflection bring me (and my clients) a lot of peace.

What more could you want for yourself than peace?

How would it free you up to know the choices you made served you in some way, even though they were hard? Even if you made mistakes?

I’ve been thinking about the hard, confusing, lonely, unclear times. I made them chapters in my head, like storyboards.

I titled some as chapters:

• You can do hard things: the year that almost broke me
• The Year of Yes: it’s time to get uncomfortable
• The Year of No: it’s time to create some boundaries

I can’t express how much it helped me to “containerize” the different times in my life. When I reflected & titled them in this way, I noticed two things:

1. How much I learned from each chapter.
2. How each chapter was necessary in order for the next chapter to be written.

As we move into a new year, I bet you’re making a lot of promises to yourself. Maybe you’re looking to completely overhaul your life, or maybe you’re tired & want to stand still for a minute.

In one year, we have many chapters. They add up to a great story.

What’s the story you want to write this year? How do you want it to unfold? What will your chapters be?

Get present with yourself as you consider this. It might feel uncomfortable, but it’s worse to find yourself in the middle of a chapter you didn’t want to write.

So, like Ramona, sit here for the present and decide what you want your 2019 to feel like!
Writing your story really is your choice.

Happy New Year!
Xo, Jen

…And if you’d like to get through the holiday season with less stress & more time, join my FREE 6-week Time Mastery Accountability Group. Click below to join, and share with your friends & family!