You Are Ready

Hello my incredible friends!

It’s the last full week of August. This place of coming transition…of wrapping up, soaking up the last rays of summer and of the anticipation of fall. For many of us, whether you have children, are an educator, or have some other tie to the school calendar, this is a place of newness, of beginning, of promise. Like January first of the yearly calendar, the start of school signals an opportunity to start fresh, make changes, set intentions and begin again with new hope. 

I love this time of year with the cool crisp nights as the New England humidity begins to let up and I can sleep with the windows open and I love the warm afternoons that follow. I love that the elementary school down the street had the lights on this morning as Piper and I took our morning walk before the sun was fully up, signaling the return of the shouts and giggles from the playground. I love the colors that will be coming to the trees and I look forward to baking with apples and cinnamon. I love this time of year and the promise of something new and fresh.

On my walk this morning I was reminiscing about the “back to school” traditions and how they have evolved as my children have grown. Wandering the aisles of Target and checking off each item on the back to school list has given way to outfitting a college dorm and applying for a high school parking pass. We grow and evolve. 

I started to wonder, how am I growing and evolving? How am I getting ready?

For me this summer was about sinking in and surrendering. I set out to intentionally let go of expectations and allow for my body to ask for what it needed. I allowed my mornings to be slow and intentional, I challenged myself to ‘just be’, do nothing and listen. I know that each summer it takes me a while to adjust from the chaos that is spring… and in past years I have “allowed” myself two weeks to rest and reset before diving into my summer intentions. This is a mix of ways I intend to relax and renew, alongside all the projects I aspire to complete. Summer has been a beautiful dichotomy of doing and not doing. This summer, I was frustrated to find that my body… and my mind for that matter, had not accepted my two week rest period, demanding more. I wasn’t rested and ready to dig into my summer ‘to-do’ list after two weeks and I found myself struggling to energize and motivate. And so, with my intention of sinking in and surrendering, I allowed for more letting go. It was hard. Really HARD. I felt the internal judgment and fear of not doing. As weeks passed I wondered if I would ever feel the energy of motivation and aspiration again.

And this is where I found my mind meandering as I walked past the elementary school this morning, all lit up and getting ready for the kiddos to return. I felt the pull… the pull that calls me to grow, to evolve, to embrace intention and begin again. I felt ready. I had listened to my body and allowed for the space I needed to sit and be. And like magic, I returned. As I continued on my walk I did the thing we often do and I started with the lists and obligations and ‘to-dos’… and I noticed the familiar sensation of anxiousness that accompanies fear of overwhelm. I reminded myself to breathe. I am ready. I set an intention of holding onto listening to my needs and allowing for moments of surrender, where I don’t ‘do’. I reminded myself not to be afraid that I wont find my way back. I will, I always do.

And so… your Mindful Mini invitation this week is to embrace your ‘ready’, whatever that looks like for you. I invite you to breathe into the newness and opportunity of the fall, and all that this fresh start delivers. I also invite you to hold onto the surrender and letting go of summer. I invite you to intentionally embrace listening as you build the beginning, as you grow and evolve. Lean into that evolution and trust your place of ‘ready’. Some of you may not be there at this moment, not feeling you got what you needed over the summer, or that the weight ahead feels heavy. I invite you to allow the surrender of knowing, and trusting that your ‘ready’ is enough. Breathe into it. I am ready. You are ready. We are sooo worth it!

Yours in heart, 

Kelly Lynn Driscoll