This morning I danced… and I will again tomorrow

This morning I woke up feeling awesome. It is a gift and not something that I recall happening too much in the past few weeks. I went about my usual routine and spent some time watching the birds. There were quite a few about this morning despite the fog. They warbled, darted and squabbled in the still morning air. The forecast for today is that it is going to be quite hot (and it’s only the beginning of spring) but  the morning air was cool as it caressed my face. I thanked God for the blessing. Of course I couldn’t stand there forever as there were things to be done prior to going to work so I tore myself away and padded off to the kitchen.

The four-legged diva demanded some attention so I lay on the floor of the lounge room to get on her level and patted her whilst she made appreciative noises and nuzzled against my hand. Since I was already down there, I decided that restarting my back strengthening exercises might be a good idea. My back has been ‘going’ on me at random times throughout the day at work and letting out a loud ‘ow my back’ has been startling some of the ladies I work with. Of course Miss Smudge decided that she would assist me in doing said exercises and obviously felt that weaving in and out of my legs, jumping on my head and nuzzling up under my neck would help immensely. This was in stark contrast to yesterday when she decided that she would not have anything to do with me. Obviously, I had upset her in some way that I knew nothing about and she had been punishing me. This morning I was apparently forgiven.

Back exercises completed, I went back to the kitchen to complete my morning duties of making lunches, doing dishes, wiping benches… (well you get the picture). Of course making the lunches is not complete unless I snack a little on the fruit I am cutting up. (Another blessing – the strawberries taste divine). When these jobs are done, I spend some time meditating, breathing and listening to quiet music. I look forward to this time each morning as it sets the tone for the rest of the day. I’m no expert in meditation and still spend most of my meditation time bringing my wandering thoughts back to the present moment but I strive. I believe Timber Hawkeye (author of Buddhist Bootcamp) wrote that if your mind wanders 500 times and you are aware enough to bring it back 500 times then that is a good meditation. Whether this is true or not, it certainly helps me feel better about my ‘restless monkey mind’. Whilst I was breathing and meditating I had a thought. (Sometimes these thoughts occur during my quiet time and I just ‘know’ that they have come from a higher source). I needed to dance. So I pulled the earphones from my iPad and let the beautiful music fill the room and began to move.

This morning, Smudge had not joined me (which was unusual but probably a good thing because she poses a trip hazard at the best of times). I closed my eyes and moved to the music. I forgot everything that I have ever learned from watching endless re-runs of Dance Moms with my daughter and didn’t point my toes or keep my arms turned in a certain way but I began to feel alive. Thankfully I had the door closed as I’m sure if I were seen by my man and daughter they would have made comments about large mammals being out of their natural habitats (and suffering for it). Anyone who knows me, would see the ridiculousness of me participating in a flowing, interpretative dance. If my doctor had been there and heard the noise that my knees were making, I’m sure she would have had me in surgery for knee replacements by the afternoon . However no-one was watching and I was free to be me. You probably wouldn’t even classify my movements as dance because there was no style involved (and had a few Tai Chi movements thrown in for good measure) but gosh it felt good. I began to feel that nothing was impossible and saw the endless possibilities for the day. I wanted to keep going but realised that time was getting away and I had a child to motivate to get ready for school. So I stopped and continued with my usual morning routine.

Arriving at work, I felt wonderful. I put it out to the universe that the day was going was going to be a great day. The day was glorious. I received unexpected blessings and felt more in tune with the God than I had in a long, long time. So tomorrow, I am going to dance once more…..