Leaving Room For Joy

Good morning, cadre. We're still outside, out here. The weather gods are allowing me to, uh, embrace these mornings. Mornings and I will take it. It is pretty glorious out here today. There's not a. Cloud in the sky. Oh, I'm lying. There's a little bit of cloud over there, but. For the most part blue skies. Hardly any wind. Sun's gonna feel great today. And, uh, that sparked you know what, uh, my topic was about today and that's just leaving some room for joy in your life. What. What's up Coleman.

Good morning to you as well. Uh, so I had you know, when I envisioned this day, last week. Uh, I said to myself, all right, you know, Wednesday is gonna be. Uh, a big, a big work day. And it's still gonna be a big Workday. But the fact that it is gonna be pure sun. 70 degrees. No wind. I'm gonna take the advantage. To go paddle boarding with Melissa. For at least an hour later this afternoon. And I bring this up because. You know, our lives can really dictate a lot of what we do. We can allow stress.

Uh, and anxiety related to. Work or personal tasks. Tasks that, uh, dictator actions that. Get us to a point of saying, no, I can't, I can't do that. I have to do this. And I get, I get in that mode too. And sometimes you really have to stay in that mode. In order to, um, move the needle ahead. But it's always, it's also important to. Leave some room for spontaneous joy. To enter your life and. With a day like today, I gotta enter some. Spontaneous standup paddle board joy. Into my life and just really appreciate this high quality.

Fall, uh, afternoon. Cuz these days are fleeting. And I you know, I can embrace. All temperatures and all weather and all climates. Climates, would I be lying if I said that? You know, being warm. And near the water. Wasn't no comfortable temperature water. Wasn't my absolute favorite thing to. Do so I'm tapping into a little joy. I am gonna stay focused on the task at hand. Handout side of that, and it's gonna be a great day. I had, uh, a good friend of mine who got married this past weekend. Uh, his name is Mike Jones.

And I say his name, just because for anybody that has, you know, familiar with, you know, like 90. Nineties, hip hop or early. Thousands Mike Jones. So it's just fun to, to say. And one thing that Mike told me, this was probably like a year or so ago. Uh, while we were giving joy into our lives in the form of a weekly. Wake surf gathering. And, you know, Mike was telling me about how he always tries to leave. He's always about 95. Percent consumed. Whether that be with work. With, uh, family with friends with um, hobbies.

Uh, 95% full. Not a hundred percent full. Because there's at 5% leaves op. Two joy. To enter his life. And I thought that was a really. Good. Just example or analogy. Of how you don't want to be. Too full in your life. You don't want to shut out. An opportunity for a new. Friend colleague. Uh, hobby to, to, to come into your life. So I've tried to embrace that to the best of my ability. And as I've been going through this transition, uh, I've, I've been balancing that with. The concept of this book.

Uh, I think it's called minimalist minimalism. I think that's what it's. It's called either way. It's a great book. And I've been having to. You know, balance saying no. To stay focused. As to keep moving forward with progress and not letting. You know, stress and anxiety get created out of that. But I've also made sure that I am able to say yes at certain things, because we need. Joy to fill our soul. We needed our cup to rise. We not constantly just pouring out of it. And building these moments of joy.

Or creating space for spontaneous joy. Has been uh, really integral. For my lifestyle. As I really step into this next phase of life. Uh, living the most authentic. Version of myself. Uh, because previously I would get into modes where. I would just constantly say no. Or I would allow the stress and anxiety. Of finishing a project or finishing a certain tasks. Tasks to control. Uh, my actions. Or prevent my desires from coming. To fruition. Because that's what stress and anxiety can do sometime.

Time. So what, uh, what my message mainly here is today is to just. Give yourself a break. If you need to S. Spread a little joy. Onto an afternoon. It's okay to take 30 minutes. It's okay. To take an hour, maybe even two hours. To, um, let that joy sink in. And, uh, and embrace it. And reward yourself. And then when you enjoy that joy, just come back to your task at hand. And start plugging away. And if it seems hard, you know, if it seems like, uh, tapping into that joy. Takes your motivation away.

Then just spend a few minutes. Trying to get back into, into your groove. And if it doesn't work, maybe it wasn't meant to be. Maybe you were meant to. Have a little bit more joy or fall that joy up with just rest. Because we also need rest in our lives. We can't just keep going. Going going uh, you know, I'm on a kick right now where I'm trying to. I'm getting up in the neighborhood of five 30. Uh, hopping into my coal plunge in the dark, looking at the stars. And, and then, you know, getting on with my day.

Um, but today I needed to just sleep a little bit more. And that's okay. Um, you know, when it comes to. Sleep sleep is an opportunity for us to recharge. To, to heal to uh, allow our bodies and minds to be fresh. For for the day. And it's important to take note of how. You're that you're feeling right. And. Sleep is actually a form of. Joy for me. And I remember times in the past. Where I would not be in the best routine. I would have trouble sleeping. You know, and, uh, the trouble sleep, the trouble, going to sleep trouble, staying asleep.

And then when I would wake up, I would tell myself, oh, all I want to do is. Just fast forward through this day. And go to sleep and, and catch up on sleep. And then I would let my busy. Stressful anxiety filled mind. Uh, get to the point at the evening. Where I'm not going to sleep as early as I want it. And I am. Compounding on that poor sleep. And stripping the joy. Away from, uh, my everyday life. By sacrificing that sleep. So I had to make, you know, adjustments. And journaling was really helpful.

For me to realize the adjustments that need to be made. Uh, cuz I can see in my writing, if I'm going back to read it. That how much, how good I felt. When I was getting proper sleep. You know, waking up when I want to wake up, tackling the test, I need to tackle. And still finding time for joy. And I want to experience that as much as I can. And avoid the times where. I am letting a busy mind. Prevent me from sleep. Prevent me from being able to enjoy this beautiful day, which then creates a, another form of stress.

Or just disappointment that I didn't. Didn't allow myself the opportunity. To receive that joy. So it, uh, it's, it's just really important. To create these opportunities never be 100. Percent full. If there are things that you love in your life. Try to allow for some space. In your, in your busy day. To, to bring that in. Cuz it will do a lot. More good for you than, uh, than it would to just continuously not. Add that into your life. So. And maybe that means a sacrifice in some way, shape or form.

Maybe that means less scrolling on your phone. Maybe that means doing a little more meal prep to shave off. Uh, time that you're spending, you know, preparing food. I know that that can get me a lot sometimes as well, where, um, I'm like, I'm like, you know, since I had my appendix ruptured in April, I've had to. Primarily shift, uh, all my food consumption to eating at home and I'd go through. These routines where I'd, you know, I'd make myself a nice, uh, lunch or breakfast and then, you know, then I'm working then all of a sudden it's like, oh man, I.

Gotta go back and make food all over again. So, uh, there's little tricks that you can do to. Shave that time off as well while still. Providing the nutrients that you need to, to get going. So. Make time for joy, make time for spontaneous joy. And let that fuel. Your soul so that you can. Uh, receive the good things in life while still taking care of the. Um, you know, perceived important things that need to get done in order to move the needle. Forward in life. So um, yeah, that's what I'm gonna leave.

Were you with today? I'm kidding. Cuz I'm actually gonna make one more statement. And, uh, it is relation. It is related to, to time. And our schedules and, you know, as I'm, I'm putting out my events that begin. This Saturday, run for four straight Saturdays at Thomas Beach. On bday Mac Kaska sessions by Ledwell. Uh, I know that one of the greatest barriers. Barriers to people for people coming is, is the whole time thing. Gosh, I don't know if I can. Fit two hours into my Saturday. Well, I challenge you.

To come and experience it. And maybe you can't stay for the whole two hours. Maybe you're able to come for. The first hour or the first. 90 and, and that's that's okay. Um, cuz it's good to. Try new things. It's good to be part of. Community. It's great to move the body. It's great to experience different wellness modalities that you may not be familiar with. Or to understand what they mean to someone else through their own lens. And that's, uh, that's what I'm trying to do. So. Um, if you got time, well, if you have drive for joy.

I challenge you to make a little time. This weekend, this Saturday to come by sessions by Ledwell. Or if that is just not gonna work. I challenge you to make some time to go out for a walk in nature today or. Tomorrow, uh, or Saturday morning, it's gonna be beautiful. You know, there's gonna be a little rain coming on the second half of Saturday. In our temps dip, uh, for next week. So if you like nice weather, if you like nice fall weather. Add that fall weather joy. Into your day, uh, today tomorrow, Friday or Saturday morning.

Yeah, that's right. It's Wednesday today. So, uh, I'll leave you with that. Uh, I'm, I've got a cool day today. Uh, I'm gonna be obviously doing stuff for sessions, but I'm gonna be. Uh, filming my first episode of season three of get sweaty with Letty today. So that's gonna be back in the mix and I'm really excited about it. I have some cool guests that are gonna be coming. On. So, uh, having get sweaty with Letty, come back, having sessions by Ledwell. Uh, in the mix. Uh, I'm really excited. I get to, I get to.

Highlight other people while uniting people. And sharing knowledge of uh, unique ways to be well. So thank you for listening to me.