Before my eyes even opened for the morning, I could feel intrusive thoughts rushing towards me. Thoughts of everything that needed to be accomplished before my son’s soccer game began to rattle through my mind: the laundry, a walk, feeding the chickens, cleaning, and follow-up emails. I could feel the freedom of my Saturday morning closing in on me as my mind began to rattle off the things that needed to be completed. 

I gently created a sense of separation from the thoughts that were washing over me, recognizing that my mind is simply one aspect of who I am; it isn’t all of me. My mind doesn’t get to run the show, and I don’t give permission for that. 

“This isn’t how we are starting our day,” I reminded myself. It felt like I was having a coaching session with myself. I know that our thoughts create our reality, and I did not want my reality to feel the way that my thoughts were showing up. So, I took control back from my mind. I recognized the truth of the situation. Yes, all those things needed to happen, AND I didn’t need to make it mean my morning was closing in on me. I could allow ease and freedom AND still accomplish all of those things. My mind is not the boss of me! I wasn’t willing to allow myself to carry the inner energetic posture of scarcity and the feeling that I didn’t have enough time. I was unwilling to rush around this morning to complete all of my tasks. I was going to enjoy all of them. I was going to hold the inner energetic posture of ease and freedom as I completed my tasks because that is what I want my life to feel like. 

I paused and felt gratitude—not just thought of it, but felt it in my body—for the fact that it was Saturday. As I felt gratitude for my life and all of the beauty in the tasks that support it, I felt my body relax, and I felt myself slip into ease and freedom. 

As I moved through my morning, I allowed myself to take as much time with each task as I wanted. I paused to enjoy the hawk sitting in the tree on my walk. I laughed at the chickens and the funny way that they ran across their yard when they saw me coming. I paused to feel the water that I was drinking. I enjoyed the smell of the laundry washing and drying. I thought about how much I enjoyed my clients as I responded to their emails. I paused to listen to the buzzing of the insects in my backyard. I felt grateful that it was warm enough for the doors and windows to be open allowing the sounds of nature to lovingly enter my home. 

My mind doesn’t get to control me. It is just one aspect of who I am, and I don’t give it permission to control the quality of my life.