I need to take a minute to commend myself.

Why, may you ask?

(Uh… what excuse can I use here?)

Because it was my birthday last week.
Because it’s the first week of a New Year.
And because I want to.

Now, I shall tell you the ways that I wish to commend myself.
(Prepare accordingly to receive my amazingness.)

#1
In December, I replaced a washer seal with my Dad. Yes, that gnarly disgusting thing that can mold and get oh so disgusting on a front loader. I took apart a washer with my Dad and replaced that thing. AND we put it back together. AND it still works and DID NOT subsequently flood our rental house!

#2
This past Saturday, I went to Ace, Lowe’s and Home Depot (twice) and – after 6 calls and 40 minutes on the phone with my Dad – found the right 5/8” to ½” sink supply line and ½” plugs to ensure our newly exposed bathroom pipes wouldn’t spray all over the place when we turned the water to (our real) house back on. And it worked!!! The supply lines + plugs worked!!!

#3
This morning, I woke up and DID NOT want to get out of bed. Not a bit. It’s warm in that thing and quite soft. My sheets are smooth and drapey and it’s velvety dark in my room at 5:45am.

And at 6:00am.

And again at 6:15am.

Around 6:25 when I finally stated very clearly in my head, “I don’t wanna!” to the powers that be, they immediately came back to me with,

“Not good enough.”

Damn.

“I don’t wanna’” apparently wasn’t a good enough reason to not get up and take care of my sh!t today.

Sigh.

So, that’s exactly what I did.

I sighed, took a deep breath before (apparently) doing a polar plunge into my day and….

Wait for it……….

I sat up.

Then I…

Put my feet on the floor.

Next I….

Stood up.

And low and behold,

I walked to the bathroom.

I scraped my tongue, used my neti pot, splashed my eyes with cool water, and walked over to my yoga mat. I did 3 little stretches and sat my butt down on my meditation cushion for 20 minutes.

So (to clarify my roundabout storytelling), #3 is,

So those are my commendations.

Those are my celebrations.

Washer seals, sink supply lines, and getting out of bed.

Happy friggin’ New Year!

Here’s to more of the same!

For real.

Because this is life.

It’s imagining and
trying and
learning things
that toe dip into just enough new, novel and
“well, ew – that feels weird and slightly awkward.”

That edge zone is where I’m alive.
And it’s bizarrely sneaky in the many flavors that it can take.

Cheers to your life.
Cheers to your aliveness,

Rachel

p.s. Need some help commending yourself? Or toe dipping into new and novel? I get it. And yes, it’s part of what I’m skilled at as a Yoga Therapist. My body thinks January is still the off-season so I’ve extended the holiday Yoga Therapy gift certificates. Take a look and come on in. Let me help you learn to celebrate you while we make what’s hard feel a little less hard through the tools of Yoga.