Fill The New Year With Sweet Moments

This post comes from contributor Kristen Hedges.

I think that one of the most positively beautiful things that can happen to a person is for them to fall in love with their own life – with the good, and the bad, all at once.

During my meditation & yoga classes, I often catch a glimpse of this. I notice a soft smile. A tear wiped onto their sleeve. A thousand thank you’s spoken; to mothers, daughters, fathers, friends, and folks long passed on. I’m beginning to think that this is experienced so frequently in yoga class because the body & mind are both prompted to slow down & notice the beauty of the present.

When you’re embracing the sweetness of each and every moment, you will fall – madly! wonderfully! – in love with your own life.

As with all beginnings, the new year presents an opportunity to make a promise to ourselves. I’ve vowed to fill 2014 to the brim, not with the big things, like snagging a new job, dropping 20 pounds, or learning a new instrument, but with the small ones. 30 seconds, here and there. Sweet, little things that make each moment tangible, like something to be held gently, or melted on the tongue.

I will take more walks. Slow ones; the kind that make you notice things like street signs, spring birds, and the way the clouds are never the same.

I will create more art. I’ll write stories in the margins of my bookwork, draw starfish on post-it notes, paint with my fingers, and knit leg warmers for my dog. I will spend more time lost in the creative spirit that I know rests within.

I will slow down. I want to turn down the speed on everything I do. I want to plant more care into my words. Calm my racing heart. Slow my breath. I know that if I do this, all moments will seem sweeter.

I will wake up a bit earlier, so that I can have more time for absolutely nothing. I want to stretch each of my toes before I roll from under the covers. I want to make myself tea. I want to count birds from the window and watch the sun rise.

I will drink more coffee. Because I love it, and because it makes me happy. But I will not rush, and I will not chug. Each time I have a coffee in my mug, I will slow down, bring awareness to the warmth between my palms, sip with a smile, and savor the drink until it’s gone. I will make coffee my morning meditation.

Now, it’s your turn! One of the easiest ways to allow more sweetness in your life is to pick one thing that you do daily, no matter what — like drinking coffee, taking a bath, driving to school, or kissing your loved one goodbye before work – and vow to do this more mindfully. With all of yourself. As if the entire universe exists within that coffee, or between the yellow lines on the road, or on the lips of your lover. Savor that one thing. Hold it close to your heart, and know that it is sweet.

When you’re feeling ready, you can add another thing, and another, until your day (and your life!) is overflowing with love.

So, what will you do to fill 2014 with sweet, little moments?

You can find Kristen here, and at facebook.com/withonlylove. If you need a bit of stillness in your life, join her free Monday Night Meditation Group.