Finding mindfulness (and being thankful) in a year like 2020
It's been such an odd year you guys. A year that we all slowed down, took some time to reflect, drank an extra margarita at 3pm in the afternoon a few times (just me?), and maybe... just maybe realized what actually matters.
At the beginning of quarantine my phone got some water damage and stopped working (it was the Iphone 10 so it was supposed to be waterproof which is why it got wet, but it had a crack in the screen so...water got in). The day after that happened was the day lockdown started and I didn't know it at the time, but I wouldn't be leaving my house for the next month. I suppose I could have called sprint or apple to see what my options were to get a new phone, but I didn't. I just let it be broken. I set it up to receive text messages on my 3 year old's ipad and I just dealt with it, it's not like I answer my my phone when it rings anyway (#millenialproblems). The longer I didn't have my phone the more I realized I didn't want my phone. It was really freeing to not always be glancing at something, checking facebook (why?!), or watching every single insta-story (still obsessed with those, btw). If I needed to send an email or wanted to check facebook I had to very deliberately pull open my computer to do it.
As I look back on the year, I actually enjoyed that time, I was really present during those four weeks. When things started to reopen and I finally decided to check and see if the sprint store was open (turns out it had never closed), I wasn't thrilled to be getting a new phone. I knew that I would slowly return to my old ways of looking at it every few seconds. Ever since then I have actively tried to choose my phone time deliberately- I try really hard to put my phone away when I'm with my kids, eating meals, when I'm a conversation with my husband, and even at night after the kids are in bed...I've started reaching for a book instead of my phone. I can't say I've done perfectly, but it's definitely better than it was.
Since I spent so little time on my phone I really grasped the concept of mindfulness. Making choices with my time and in turn shaping the life that I want to live. If I want to be the type of person that reads intellectual books, wakes up at 4:30 to work out, and tackle my day....it doesn't have to be some abstract concept. It can be a part of the active decisions I make to shape my day and ultimately my life.
I'm still a work in progress. I still just want to lay in bed and scroll on my phone to unwind after a busy day...but actively working towards something feels good even if I don't accomplish it perfectly everyday. With that being said, Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you were able to be with your family in some way on this day, whether it was safely in person or virtual.
xoxo,
