Settling Into A Beautiful Day

Over the last year, I have learned an invaluable lesson. I learned how to get settled into the start of a beautiful day.

 Some people might call this getting grounded. Others might call it clearing their head or many other things.
I have found multiple ways to achieve this. They generally involve moving, breathing and seeing or feeling something beautiful.
As I write this, I sit nestled on a ledge on the top of Crowder’s Mountain. I just hiked the steep mile or so up to the top.
Crowder’s sits next to an elementary school that my daughter’s used to attend. 

Traffic away from the school is very far from settling or beautiful. Interstate 85 North into Charlotte, driving into the rising sun is just the opposite.
To avoid the stress of congestion, I started driving over to this mountain and hiking up it in the mornings 2-3 times per week. It was a wonderful way to clear my head and start the day.
I have also gone to yoga in the morning which is another amazing way to start the day.
Sometimes, just walking on a trail or even through a city for a mile or more can do the same thing.
Moving and breathing are two important aspects of getting settled.
Finding beauty, that takes practice at first. We simply have to look for something beauty on the unfolding path ahead of us. This is similar to practicing gratitude in life.
We just look actively for something beautiful. It might be a flower, or the way sunlight catches a tree or rock. It might be a kind and beautiful face walking towards us on a side walk, or sitting across from us on a subway. It might be the grace by which a fellow walker, hiker or runner glides past us.
As we move, we simply need to seek out something that catches our eye. Then focus on it until we move past it. Then we repeat this process over and over again.
It is a magnificent way to get grounded, settle our souls and feel connected to the world. It helps bring on a level of serenity that makes it much easier to navigate the challenges of the rest of the day.
It does take a time investment, but the former cost accountant in me knows that this is an opportunity cost. The opportunity cost of showing up to work happy and balanced and serene versus showing up just a few minutes faster, furious and unbalanced and going way to fast to reflect on what is important.
This morning, I after climbing to this summit, I reached out to my son Corbin and helped him edit a script he is working on for a video segment for Doctor Pepper. 

I waited until I was good and balanced and then replied to a client seeking an appointment to talk later today. 
I shared my love with my girlfriend on Facebook. It is her birthday and she is having an amazing day as she completes the process of leveling up and preparing to repeat an amazing transformation over the last year.
I drove to this place earlier passing several miles of cars going 10 mph in the opposite direction. I could have turned around and joined them immediately after dropping off my youngest child.
Instead, I chose to move and breath and settle into my own skin, clearing my mind and sharing this with you. The sun is shining on me. I can feel it on my shins as my body starts to produce vitamin D. I started the day sick and tired with an oncoming head cold, but already feeling infinitely better from recharging with a flowing movement up a beautiful mountain.
I hope you find a way and then another and another, to settle into your own days. 

It takes practice. It takes balancing other commitments. It takes rescheduling and it is no small thing to do for yourself.
I guarantee when you do it, you feel and perform and BE so much happier.
I hope you join me in this adventure and make yourself a wonderful day!