Take the reins

So, I've found myself back again on the topic of being happy.  (One of my favorite, and most popular posts thus far, also centered around being happy so check it out too here.)  I found this picture below in one of my go-to magazines, SELF, and had to share:

I know it isn't a great photo capture, and you can't actually read what it says, so I've got it here for you.

"Take the reins.  Think about what makes you happiest - the one thing guaranteed to get your heart racing and a big grin spreading across your face.  Got it? Good.  Now do that thing.  Yes, today.  Taking control of your life is about knowing what you want and going after it without hesitation.  You don't need permission.  You just need to know you deserve to be happy."


Now, setting aside the fact that I dream of horseback riding, I loved this moment (the title of this section in the mag is "A Moment for Yourself").  Heck, I needed this moment.  Because I do deserve to be happy, and so do you.

This life, this rat race of life, takes and takes from us every day.  If we're honest with ourselves, we know that most days we give to it more than it takes from us.  We prioritize everything under the sun higher than ourselves.  And for what?  To look in the mirror and ask ourselves daily why we've already abandoned our goals from yesterday?

I started this blog, this mission, to have a constant reminder of why I'm here - in this life.  It isn't for "the man."  It isn't even for my man.  It's for me.  This life is mine, and yet daily I give it away to the stresses of work I can't change, family I don't see, friends I wish I saw more and a husband I love so much but still need a break from every now and then.

February was a case in point - I started off so well but ended up falling off my yoga wagon because I was having nightmares about work/life and hit snooze every morning, my stress broke my "eat healthy" mentality and I ended up feeling mentally drained and physically bleh.  But it's just so hard to separate it all out.  To tell yourself that work doesn't have to come home with you and home doesn't need to go everywhere else with you.  Is that even possible?

As I learn more about yoga, they keep telling me that yoga - like life - is a process.  There should be no goals, because there would always be another goal to attain and you would never really feel satisfied.  If you approach life/yoga as a process though, you can never let yourself down because you know up front that you will always be growing and moving through the steps.

But I like goals. And I really like checking the boxes beside those goals.

So, that makes this philosophy so hard for me to wrap my head around. But, in the name of the process, happiness, and my mission, I try again every day.  For all those moments that bring a little taste of peace to an otherwise hectic existence - I will try again.  And again.  And again.

How do you keep yourself on track?  When things just go all whack crazy on you, how do you bring it back to center?