8/12: Back in the Saddle

August was a full month of wins, losses, learning, and lessons.

It’s funny how much can happen in a month, and it’s almost alarming how time passes quickly and slowly at the same time. And yet, we take both for granted.

Time is the thing. Money, success, love—they’re all time-bound. Shit; life is time-bound. I’m realizing that how we spend our days is how we spend our lives. Big things like events and vacations are fun and great for having something to look forward to, but the everyday shouldn’t be ignored.

it’s easy to feel like nothing happens in a year if you don’t take time to remember everything that happened. Gratitude is a practice, and it’s something I’m working on.

Working through some things in therapy over the last year has helped me get a handle on my thoughts and emotions. It’s helped me recognize my patterns, tendencies, and traumas and it’s given me tools for understanding myself and the world around me.

“Taking care of your mental health” is a buzzphrase that floats around, but no one really talks about what that looks like in practice. For me, therapy, medication, and small mindfulness techniques like a daily morning reading from this book and keeping a journal have helped.

Staring down the barrel of a milestone birthday in a few months has me a bit shook, but mostly in a good way. Life feels tenuous and sometimes scary, but I keep showing up.

Keep writing. Trying. Living.

September kicks off four months of travel and activity through the end of the year, and I’ll be damned if I’m not excited about it. It feels good to be back in the saddle: a work trip, weekend getaways, celebrating said milestone birthday with longtime friends, and a year-end vacation I’m crossing my fingers can actually happen.

It’s nice to have things to look forward to. And it’s even better to feel that way about the small things in life: a walk outside, a little treat here and there.

I hope I never lose enthusiasm for little things, because they’re what make up the big things. Little things make the days that make our lives.

It’s Sunday, and Sundays are great for pursing the little pleasures that make life fun: walks, treats, binge watching, and other delights.

Time to go feel delighted.