My Vow

So, a week ago today I read the following piece to a bride and her bridal party on the morning of her wedding, during a private Yoga session just for them!  They loved it so much they wanted copies of it and the impact on them emboldened me, causing me to read it again later that morning at another Yoga class and again at a class two days later.  In every case several people asked where I had gotten it because they wanted to find it.  One of my fellow Yoga teachers also asked for a copy so that she could read it at her own Yoga classes.  She has read it more than once, including again this morning, and every time the response is the same: I want that!

Finally I have had to admit that I wrote this.  I mean really, I guess I CAN'T BE BOTHERED trying to hide that I have a soft side and that it is an honor to write something that speaks to people, makes them want to take care of themselves.  

Now that it has gotten attention of course my instinct was to go back and edit it, find ways to make it even better.  As hard as it was for this perfectionist not to touch it, I didn't.   I left it in its raw, unedited, first draft form and am sharing here for everyone...to have and to hold!

MY VOW

by Jeannette Maloy

I . . . take me . . . to be my own life long partner, friend and true love. 

From this day forward, I vow not to put anything before the nurturing of my own body, mind and spirit - for it is only when I care for myself that I am strong enough to nurture these things in others too. 

I promise to recognize that what I think about most is what shapes my world and give attention only to that which serves me.

I vow to remember that I am complete, I am perfect . . . because what I believe about myself is projected to everyone I meet, then back to me again. So, the stories I tell myself, about myself, will be only the ones that build me up.....fill me with joy, gratitude and love for who I am.

I promise to remember that I deserve a life of satisfaction, abundance and peace. I will not forget this and I will CREATE it!

I vow to learn from the past and then let go of it and be present so that my future can be full of beautiful, lasting and intentional moments.

I will be faithful to myself, reaching for dreams, always believing, remembering that my life is meant to be full of all that I desire and that which does not bring me joy will not be part of my journey.

I swear to laugh and cherish myself. 

I swear to grow and give myself room to breathe.

I vow to simply find happiness and to settle for nothing less, ever.

Above everything else and with my whole heart - I promise to love myself today, tomorrow . . . and for all the days of my life.

It Doesn't Fit

Have you ever  felt the joy of accidentally stumbling upon just the piece of furniture or art you'd been looking for?  You know - that one you love instantly, that you think will be just perfect for this one spot that's been empty too long?

Excitedly you pay quite a lot for it, go through a hell of a time getting it home.....then find as soon as you get it into it's new spot in your house, it doesn't fit.

Or does it?  No, no, no, it fits!  It has to.

You spend many minutes looking at it from every angle, adjusting it this way and that, trying to make it work, when deep down you know it just isn't going to. You can't give up though.

"Let me just shift it this way a bit and it will look right.  Oh wait, maybe if I....."

....and when none of that works, you actually consider putting it in a different room just so you don't have to take it back, because there is something you simply love about it.  You look around, but have to admit that it doesn't really work anywhere else either.

Alas, reluctantly, despite it's beauty and charm, you load it back into the car and return it.  The salesperson says she is so sorry it didn't work out and you say you are too.  You turn to leave, but then decide to take one more look around.  Finally, just as you are about to declare that you can't be bothered  - you see it.  This one just might work, even though it wasn't what you first had in mind.

You get it home and what do you know?  It fits.  Perfectly!

Relationships are just like this.  Simply replace the furniture in this story with a person and add on a few years instead of just one hour.

When it doesn't fit you know it, and usually - no matter how hard you try - you can't MAKE it fit.   All you can do is spend a lot of time missing out on something else.

Take it back and keep looking, because when you hang onto something that doesn't fit, you make no room for the one that does.

Peeing on, not IN, your pants......

Today I almost peed ON my pants. That's right.  You heard it correctly.  I almost peed ON them, not in them.  It is complicated.  Please don't ask.  This happened while at work too, and that makes it even more disturbing.

Stop asking.  I am not going to elaborate, as this is already more than enough humiliating information, just for the sake of an interesting blog post.....trying to get your attention, as it has been almost a year since my last post.

Let me just say that the fraction of a fraction of a second between realizing what was about to happen and saving myself from a urine stream  - was so minimal it is unlikely that it can even be measured.  I almost cried from the relief when I realized the disaster I had just avoided.

What's the worst that could have happened though, really?  If I had peed on my pants, surely I could simply have gone to the school nurse for a change of clothes just like all the kids do.  Do you think she has Express straight leg slacks and Ann Taylor button ups?  Hell no.  I would probably have come out in a jumper with embroidered crayons and on it.

Oh, that's right, if you did not know.......I'm a teacher. Aren't you relieved that the future of our children rests in the hands of an almost-peed-on-my-pantser?

Ugh, I so CAN'T BE BOTHERED nearly peeing on my own clothes.  It is time to stop thinking about 52 other things and focus on the PEE, as in Present!

What was the last borderline insane thing you did because you were't paying attention?