Life is in the Moments

My yoga teacher said something that really stuck with me today. Today my intention was mindfulness. She said, "Breathe in the new. Breathe out having to know what's coming next." So often we live our lives thinking about what is coming up next or dwelling on what happened in the past. I'm definitely guilty of this a lot. I always want to have everything figured out. Even though so many times in my life things have come to me, just at a different time than I expected. I like to think of the change I need more as living in the moment, rather than being patient. The idea of learning patience seems like such a tough task. But learning to live in the moment is such a beautiful idea. Life is a series of moments. And if you take the time to stop and live in the moment and just be, you will notice so much more of what is going on around you.

I had a wonderful day yesterday. I decided to just do whatever I wanted yesterday, which I have the freedom to do a lot of the time in the summer. That's kind of a form of mindfulness--just doing what feels right at the time. I slept in. Then I decided to explore the 606 trail again. This time I biked it. I stopped a few times to rest and think. Sometimes in order to quiet our minds we have to let thoughts in and then let them drift away.

After the trail, I bought some things at LUSH, this really great environment-friendly cosmetics shop. Then I got coffee at this cool place I'd seen before and wanted to check out. I spent over an hour reading there which I don't take enough time to do on a day to day basis.

Then I met up with Justin and we did a little biking tour of Wicker Park/Bucktown hitting some murals, a few shops, grabbing dinner and drinks, and hanging with another friend. Great day full of great moments.

Great days

You know those days in your life that are so amazing you just know you'll remember them forever? I have three from my recent memory to talk about.

1.) The Fourth of July in Summer of 2013: This day was so freaking awesome. I remember I got up early in the morning to go for a run along the lakefront. I then went to a house party at a friend's place where I knew only a few people but had the best time meeting a ton of new people, including Joey, who is one of my good friends now. That night I got to kayak the Chicago River and watch the fireworks.

2.) Royals clinch a spot in the playoffs--September 2014: I went to the Royals vs. Sox game alone that night because I couldn't find anyone to go with. I watched most of the game from behind home plate before meeting some other Royals fans who asked me to watch the last two innings behind the Royals dugout with them. It was freaking awesome watching the final outs. (See my previous blog post for more). I met some other Royals fans on the way out and went and celebrated with one after the game. I then had people to watch some of the playoffs with too!

3.) July 3rd, 2015: Unexpectedly awesome day. I went to yoga in the morning, which is always wonderful. Then I met up with Liz and we got to play some pickup beach volleyball. We then had some biking adventures, went to Revolution brewery, and then had dinner on a rooftop.

Not a bad life I'm living.