Grabbing moments

My husband was traveling for work last week and when he got to his destination, he posted a picture on Facebook of himself sitting by the pool.

So, my son and I replied with this:

What the...?

If I'm being totally fair, Shawn had just flown across the country, and the conference he was attending hadn't started yet. If it were me, I would have been sitting by the pool, too. Instead, we were in the grocery store parking lot, which we made known with our public display of protest. 

There's no grand meaning to that story, except that my son and I were going for the laughs, and it still makes me smile when I think of it.

The Listen To Your Mother show is in ten days, and I'm in deadline mode.

My assistant and I checking out the venue for the Charleston Listen To Your Mother show on May 3. 

Deadline mode means that on some days, we're digging through a pile of clean laundry (at least it's clean) to find something to wear that day. Deadline mode means that I have an "after the show" folder on my laptop, where I'm filing away all of the things that feel important but have to take a backseat right now. 

When I'm in deadline mode, I would stay chained to my phone and computer if I let myself. But I'm making a conscious effort not to do that this time. As I mentioned in a recent post, I'm scheduling time to stop what I'm doing and go to the gym, and I'm grabbing moments when I can—moments to stop, moments to be present, moments to be silly with my kids. 

Yesterday, instead of cooking dinner, Shawn, the kids and I stayed outside until dark. We just decided to embrace the spring afternoon and deviate from the routine. 

And a couple of weeks ago, when Abby volunteered to make Blake's frog costume for a school performance, I let her. And I didn't feel bad about it. I chose gratitude over guilt, because in the end, the child was happy and that's what matters. And knowing that you have a friend who will do something like that is really cool. 

Recently, over at Best Kept Self, I wrote a post about how to reach your goals by doing less. At one point, though, I wondered if I could apply my own advice during this time, when I'm down to the wire, in the midst of planning a major public event. Then, I realized that whenever I feel too busy to slow down is exactly when I need to apply the "do less" advice. It's really all about fine tuning my filter, determining what's a not right now, or not ever. It's about dialing in and keeping my attention and energy moving in the direction of what's essential. 

Be present. Grab moments. Two things that deserve top position on my to-do list every day. (Tweet that).

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If you're wondering what a Listen To Your Mother show is all about, watch this 3 minute video with LTYM Founder Ann Imig. It was recorded in 2013 but still says everything. The Charleston show is on May 3. You can get tickets here.

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Angie Mizzell

I write about motherhood, writing, redefining success, and living a life that feels like home.

http://angiemizzell.com
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On finding yourself at midlife: A conversation with Ann Imig

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Random surprises and many reasons to smile