Mama Needs a Refill

How long does she expect me to pose with this cup? I'd rather roll over and have my belly scratched.

They say if you want to learn how to live in the moment you should observe a dog. As I write this at my friend’s kitchen table on this our ‘Thursday Writing Morning’, her dog rubs up against my leg. The female Boxer lets me rub her back and scratch behind her ears with my non-writing hand. Seeing that I still keep my pen moving and satisfied with the attention I do give her, Sassy goes back to her spot under the table and settles in for a morning nap.

I notice similar behavior at home with my dog, Buford. He is always fully attentive to whom and what is in front of him. There are numerous times when he gives me his look at me, look at me, look at me now, expression with his in my face, notice me, play with me, pet me, touch me, look out for my tail it’s gonna lovingly whack you, way of being that completely irritates me. When really he is being fully present, 100% in the moment loving the person in front of him.

How often do I push my husband, friends, or my children out of the way mentally when they are right there in front of me at a time I find inconvenient?  Too often.  I’ve got stuff to do, dinner to cook, we’re going to be late if I take this moment – this present speck of time and space to actually be in the moment.

Instead I could learn from my canine friends. Stopping to engage with one another is just one way to be present and living in the NOW. Turning off the control switch and being in the moment.

Sassy has woken from her five minute nap, sipped from her water dish, and sees the two writers at the kitchen table aren’t budging. She seeks out a new space to spread out and rest as she wanders out of the kitchen, down the hall. No agenda, she lives in the moment, ready to engage with the next human who is willing to stop what they’re doing and love what’s right in front of them.

Dog and his boy dance, engaging in the moment when there is nothing else that matters.

I’ve started putting lemon in my water. It makes the water taste better and I have heard the electrolytes in lemons are good for us.

At this point my stand is clear. I believe all moms give and give and if we don’t stop to receive we aren’t doing anyone any favors. I believe in filling our cups, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Today I’m not just speaking about pausing to drink more water.

I have spoken about figuring out your exercise, finding silence in your day, discovering your passions, putting yourself first, taking the time to sit down and eat your lunch, treating yourself, but I haven’t spoken about going to the doctor now have I?

We all get those little twinges, old injuries flaring up, new pains emerging and often if the pain is tolerable we put up with it. We make excuses about making a doctor’s appointment; we just don’t have the time.

Do you make an appointment to the doctor when your child has a physical ailment that needs attention? Duh.

So how come you don’t do the same for you? Perhaps it is time for a new doctor.  Maybe even a different kind of doctor.  Ever thought about a chiropractor, naturopath, masseuse or acupuncturist? If you aren’t getting your ailments figured out by your regular doctor, time to check-in with yourself and search out something new. Our health as mothers is vital. If you are long overdue and won’t make an appointment for you, do it for your family.  An unhealthy mom, even if it’s just a nagging back ache you can put up with, makes motherhood harder and on the verge of sucking like a fresh lemon.  You don’t have to “put up with it”, you wouldn’t want your kids to, so why should you?

What is your body telling you? Who can help you figure it out?

So here I am about to go on LIVE radio in a little over an hour and my physical health is in a new place. A place I haven’t been. Battled a migraine recently, now have headaches and other physical ailments happening so NOW more than ever I need to LISTEN and BE STILL.

Since the LIVE radio show is about card readings, I decide just now to pull a card for myself. What do I need? What dear Universe, divine Mystery, my loving God do I need to know right now with my physical health and with going on the radio? So I shuffle the deck, remember to breathe, surrender, shuffle some more and pull the RECEIVE card. Using my Grace deck by Cheryl Richardson I pull a card with two peaceful women, maybe angels, closing their eyes. I turn over the card and read the full message – When we open ourselves up to others, we open ourselves up to the abundance of the universe.

So what does this mean for me? I like it. I immediately feel comforted. I need to let go, rest in faith, believe and visualize all being well when I let others in and know that only good can come from being vulnerable. So that’s my take. If someone else got the same card, they may have a different interpretation for themselves.

I will see what the card’s message unfolds for me. I will post this, and go put my feet up, receiving all the blessings the dear Universe, divine Mystery, my loving God has to offer.

Needed guidance, pulled the RECEIVE card from my Grace deck by Cheryl Richardson.

Tune in 2 PM PST to the podcast…The Way of the Toddler on www.toginet.com   today  March 8th. I will be giving two card readings to the show hosts. It will be fun, tune in.

Learning what we need doesn’t always come to us easily. We often fight it. Sometimes we need a crisis to happen or a wise person to show us the way and to help us uncover what we already know, but are just too busy to hear it.

I know I am the type. The busy type. The can’t sit still type. I crave and need silence yet I often run from it at the same time.

Now that’s a picture an artist would have fun drawing. A figure running in many directions, hands outstretched holding an empty cup.  Moving toward what she needs but running from it at the same time.  If an artist can’t capture that, neither can you, right?

I had one of those lessons recently; where I had to surrender to what I needed, rest – silence – stillness, and boy did I fight it.

I had my first migraine attack in six or seven years this past week and I was quickly reminded how debilitating they are. Then I had an adverse reaction to an injection I was given for the pain. In the end, the final cure, after a trip to the ER and the right drug, the ultimate healer – surrendering to the power of prayer, being still.  I didn’t think I had the time to be still and let go as a mom of two, but nature had something else in mind.  Let go sister or you won’t do anyone any favors.  I have had more sleep in the last five days then a new born baby gets in a week. In my dreams I have gone to Hong Kong and back, written novels, conquered the world.

I needed rest. My body also might be telling me something else because of all the adverse reactions it had to food, medicine, life. So I am making steps to listen. Holding still so I can hear the messages energy healers, naturopaths, the Divine within, my friends, my husband, my body, God and all the ways she delivers messages to me, if I just hold still long enough to hear them, right?

How will you hold still today? How will you surrender to what you need to hear today? I’d love to know, so would everyone else. Do tell.

If you hold still what do you hear? Is it time for prayer, surrender, a good headache medicine, or both?