Some of us have it, some of us only see glimpses of it…the simple life.  This is a place of peace and contentment.  A place where your well-being is a priority and not something you can’t fit into your day.  It’s a place where we aren’t tethered to our laptops and smartphones; where sharing means calling someone, visiting with them, having a cup of tea or a long walk together.  It’s waking up to contentment, peace and gratitude rather than our to-do list. We are living in a world that is so fast paced that if we unplug for even a day it feels like we have missed out on something important or worse, that the world won’t quite spin correctly if that email isn’t answered immediately.

What is feeding this need to be plugged in, control everything around us and have everything look perfect?  Sure, some of us have difficulties with perfectionism, comparison and the need to please, but it feels deeper than these things.  I think we are all searching for that place of happiness, of finally making it, getting there, the pinnacle, arriving, but guess what? We are never going to get there.  We have all heard the famous quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson,

“Life is a journey, not a destination.”

Well our journeys aren’t all peaches and cream either.  Our journeys are often dictated by mortgages, rising food costs, college tuitions, kids moving back home, illness and job losses, so how do we find joy in the journey? There is stress surrounding all of us and sometimes it feels like a never-ending pit.

We have to step away…every day.  We have to turn inward, pray, meditate, be in nature, be grateful and find perspective in an otherwise all-consuming chaotic world.  Of course, praying or meditating aren’t going to make it all go away.  We still have bills to pay and crisis to deal with, but somehow it makes us feel like we are not alone; that we can walk this journey, not run at a break-neck speed into our grave of anxiety.

I know I don’t want to wake up and find out that I missed out on special moments that I couldn’t see because I was on my laptop or smartphone.  Life is not in the emails, photos, Facebook posts, tweets and Instagrams that we share.  It’s in the relationships that we build and nurture: voice to voice and face to face.

So, as we move into fall let’s make a conscious choice to step away each day and really connect with ourselves and really connect with someone in our lives.

Sunshine & Sarcasm,

Lowi & G