Bold Living … This Twenty Minutes

When is your inner voice the strongest, and when are you an active listener to this voice?

My inner voice is the strongest and clearest when I first wake up.

I give myself 10-to-15 minutes, after my morning alarm, to lie in stillness and breathe deeply.

My inner voice whispers quietly to me and reminds me that today is what I make it to be.

I sometimes take a moment to jot down the messages, from my inner voice, in my journal so I will not become distracted and forget what I actually need to be doing.

Here are 5 easy steps to follow, to become reacquainted with your inner voice:

1. Give yourself 10-to-15 minutes, when you first wake up, to sit quietly.

2. Designate a notebook or journal so you can capture the messages your inner voice is communicating to you.

3. As you go through the day, if you are feeling any discomfort in your body (tension, jumpy stomach, tight shoulders, etc.) go back to your notebook/journal and to check to see if you are following the route your inner voice mapped out for you.

4. If you find you’ve gone off track, take 5-to-10 minutes and ask yourself

• (a) why am I resisting the wisdom of my inner voice,
• (b) what am I gaining by resisting the message from my internal GPS, and
• (c) what one thing can I do right now to get back on track?

5. Be kind and gentle with yourself and start fresh the next day.

Bold Living Today … for 20 minutes.

It was pitch perfect for me this morning. I’d woken up way too early and had elected to lament that fact by grumbling loudly in my head about it. Already frustrated, I then did the worst possible thing I could do in that frame of mind. I foolishly jumped right on my laptop to stare at the present mess that is the sequel to my book.  Present. Mess.

All of this, mind you, was before coffee, and before 5:15 a.m.

You can imagine the pleasant state that placed me in … until Kanesha’s timely, sweet, wise email, complete with the perfect closing. Be kind and gentle with yourself and start fresh the next day.

I immediate sent her an email thanking her for her encouragement. She replied with a “happy to help” and with a question: is today a writing day?

Writing? On a Monday? Between the hours of 8-5. No. I would not be writing today.

“I wish. At work. So hard to write in the crevices of my time.”

Forever the optimist, Kanesha replied, “Well – that’s a blog post – for later – right there. Staying creative in the midst/in the crevices . . .”  Kanesha. Bold Living Indeed.

So, here’s me, being creative in the crevices of a lunch hour that is, even now, slipping away minute by minute. It’s not much but it’s my act of boldness during my lunch break.  What’s your bold move today?

Peace and Blessings,

Nicole Y. Walters