Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Find the you, you used to know

When life gets busy like it has this month, I often look up and realize that life is passing me by. I think I missed October completely and found myself smack dab in the middle of November before I even realized it. The first few weeks of November have been especially busy since I’m working on writing a novel for National Novel Writing Month, planning a trip to Atlanta for some quality friend time and at the same time, preparing for a work related exam on December 1st.

This evening, when I realized I am tired and frazzled, I decided to take a break and get my head back on straight. I gave myself a half hour for this so I was a little rushed but still I feel great now that I’m done.

What could I accomplish in a half hour, you might ask. I found the me I used to be. I pulled out a box of old photos and sifted through them. There I discovered reminders of many of my favorite things in old photos including:

Cocoa Beach with a thunderstorm headed in from the Atlantic
Four friends laughing in front of a pub
Horseback riding when I was about 5
High school – lots of photos from my newspaper days, a smooch with a cute boy (whose name I can’t recall) and laughing with friends


It only took about five minutes of flipping through these photos to relax my shoulders, create a smile and get me ready to get back to work. I’m fairly self-aware so it doesn’t take long to get my head where it needs to be.

When you’re frazzled, a simple reminder of your own past self may be all you need to shift your perspective back in line. Sometimes just getting in touch with the person you are is all you need to get moving and motivated again.

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