Distractions

Have you ever noticed that sometimes you can get distracted from actively parenting? I have. I often let those old patterns do the talking, and I find myself being somewhat robotic, or at least, not enthusiastic with my daughter. Sometimes I catch myself earlier than other times. I have used being stoic as a shield for a good chunk of my life, and after giving birth, I realized how that just wasn't the kind of parent that I wanted to be. That I wanted to show my Sweet Darling that life was meant to be lived and enjoyed, not simply a thing to get through and survive.

I have done many things to not let myself get so distracted from the present. But mostly what I have found to to work the most is to actually meditate everyday. I do my best to meditate every morning and evening. It sets me up for a more relaxed day, where I am connected to an infinite source of life and vitality--God.

And when I'm having a time where I'm getting distracted during the day, distracted from Reality, from all the good that is my life, I stop and I meditate (sometimes with Sweet Darling asking, "Why are you ignoring me?" over and over, and I just let her know lovingly that it's time for me to mediate and talk to God) and ask God for a miracle--to get me present and into reality--which exists only right now. Often, I find that I am in need of some sort of release. As Marianne Williamson talks about in her book Everyday Grace it's important to feel your feelings as they come up. Don't avoid feelings sad or scared or disappointed. Let yourself stay put and really really feel what is there, then let it go. When I am getting really distracted away from Present Time, it's usually because I am avoiding feeling something. So I stop, I meditate, and often I cry or laugh a lot until the (old, stuck) feeling that I was avoiding no longer is pulling on me. It's gone. The noticing, staying, and facing it was brave enough, but then to cry and/or laugh my way through it, actually dissolves the old hurt feelings more quickly and thoroughly. Then, I am left with God, my daughter, and my life, in Present Time, where all is well, and I am not alone, and there is no longer a pull to be distracted.