Stop, Drop and Do Nothing!

When I woke up this morning to the sound of torrential rain, I felt grateful! I used to get annoyed by the rain, especially when it rains for days on end, which it can do here where I live during the wet season. These days, I’m not so bothered by the rain. Since we moved into a house that has water tanks, my attitude has changed and I am now much more grateful for the rain as I am much more aware of how precious water is. This type of weather makes us slow down, in fact, it can even make us stop all together, which is something very rare today. Life is so full (I’m determined to not use the word busy here) that we move from one day to the next, one task to another without giving much notice to, or appreciating each task as it gets ticked off our list. So how can we live more mindfully? How do we go about crossing tasks off our to do lists mindfully? It’s days like today I think that can go a long way to helping us be more mindful about our everyday activities.

When do you ever have one of those days where get to do absolutely nothing? As adults (and as a mother), those days are usually reserved only for when we are too sick to get out of bed. However, today is one of those rare days when it is ok to do absolutely nothing! There is a cyclone currently hitting the Capricorn coast off Queensland, and the fallout of torrential rain and lots of it, means that we are all house bound. Even if we wanted to go out, we’ve been advised to stay inside. The road we live along floods, and so we are unable to go anywhere. In fact, it floods on many roads around my little town, I know that my best friend Kirsty is stuck at home because of flooded roads, and my parents are flooded in at their place also. Both of which live at least ten minutes drive in opposite directions from me. To say that it is wet here is an understatement! This type of rain in a humid, tropical environment makes everything in the house damp and horribly mouldy. Paper is swelling with dampness, the wooden floors have a layer of moisture on them and there are little puddles here and there through out the house, the source of which is inexplicable. We have the air conditioners on the dry setting to help remove the humidity from the air and I’ve got my oil burner on so the house smells like lavender and rosemary instead of the damp. Days like these don’t come along too often and so I don’t feel guilty that it took me till 9am to get out of my pjs. I don’t feel guilty that I’ve read a book, played on my iPad, helped Annabel make lip balm and watched a movie with my girls all before lunch and I don’t feel guilty that when I’ve finished writing this blog, I’m going to make myself a cup of tea, a big pile of popcorn and watch another movie because when in the world will I get this chance again? I’ve got the whole rest of the weekend to do housework and whatever else so today is a day of play and I love it! I may even be inspired to do get on my mat later for some yoga! Gratitude helps me to stay mindful and being mindful helps me to be grateful. I love that.

To anyone caught in a storm right now, stay safe and warm and remember, this to shall pass.

love & light,

Heidi xo