MEDITATING AND CALMING THE SOUL AT BEDTIME

Today was a good day…..I actually felt good enough to shower, get dressed and even put on some blush and mascara.  I unpacked a bunch of Amazon boxes with things that arrived last week that I just hadn’t felt like opening.  I know I balanced my checking account, went to the dump, and read a little bit but I can’t, for the life of me, tell you anything else I did all day.

The boxes contained some wood wick candles, four Himalayan salt lamps, and a few pieces of clothing.  I placed the salt lamps in the living room, my bedroom, the master bath, and the dining area.  As darkness started to fall on Joyeful Acres, the salt lamps were giving each of the rooms a warm glow…almost like a fire in a fireplace.  I started feeling a bit of calm.

I ate my dinner and then sat down at my desk in the living room to read a few online articles on meditation, healing, life changes, and making a warm and cozy (Hygee style) home.  I felt even calmer as I read in the glow of the salt lamps.

After reading one article on the importance of a nighttime routine to prepare for sleep, I decided that tonight would be the night I would implement that.  My routine would include:

1. Changing into pajamas;
2. Washing my face;
3. Applying moisturizer;
4. Fixing and drinking a glass of cranberry/tart cherry juice to help me fall asleep and help my joints,
5. Brushing and flossing my teeth and putting in my retainer;
6. Reading something peaceful;
7. Going to sleep (hopefully).

I started my routine for the night.   I changed into PJ’s, washed my face, applied moisturizer, and went into the kitchen to make my juice (a glass of cranberry juice with a tablespoon of tart dark cherry juice).  I was on my way….steps one thru three accomplished and starting on number four.  My body is settling down…this routine will help a lot.

Afterwards I walked back into the living room with my glass of juice and sat down at my desk to read another article on the computer.  I was reading about angels and meditation.  I started feeling even calmer.  This is awesome!

Oh crap!!  I suddenly realized I hadn’t gone to the mailbox today and I knew there was a package in it that had been delivered.  So at 9:30 p.m., I put on my waterproof Sloggers (just in case) and walked through the night about a 100 feet or so to the mailbox.  The temperature was perfect and there was a slight breeze that caressed by whole body.  Literally as I walked I was whispering out loud “Universe, thank you for my home and property; thank you for all the blessings I have in  my life; thank you for my family and friends, for my body feeling kind of human today, and for this special nighttime peace where I live.”  I retrieved my package and started back to the house, again repeating my statements of gratitude.  I was feeling so at peace.

Seeing how good it felt outside after my trip to the mailbox, I thought “Why not go out on the deck and meditate for 15 minutes?”   I went out and pulled one of cushioned chairs out from under the canopy, told Siri to set a 15 minute timer and then sat under the cloudy but open sky.

As I began, I thought…”focus on the breath”.  After about two minutes I had trouble staying focused on my breathing…my mind was wandering.

MIND:  I wonder how many times those two crickets chirped back and forth to each other.   It must be a love call since one has a deeper tone than the other.  Count the chirps and see if there is a pattern.

ME…focus on your breath, Rosie.

MIND:  Boy, those tree frogs are so loud!  Remember the visit with Sis and a nighttime dip in her pool where we found several tree frogs?  …the removal was an adventure…what a fun night we had!

ME…..focus on your breath, Rosie!!

I checked the timer.  I had six minutes left.

MIND:  That’s probably enough meditation tonight.

I stood up and reached for my cell phone to go back inside.  I then stopped in my tracks

ME:   “No, you stick with this girl!  You only have six more minutes!”   I sat back down …focus on your breath Rosie!!!

MIND:  I should really take the bug zapper down since summer is pretty much over….I then started to count the number of bugs being zapped.

ME:…maybe I shouldn’t take it down…focus on your breath Rosie!!!!

MIND:  Goodness, those blackberry canes are doing great….I really need to get them in the ground and out of those planters.

ME:….focus on your breath Rosie!!!!!

Finally the timer goes off and I headed back inside, very proud of myself for sticking with it.

Before I headed to bed, I decided to play a game about fairies in the woodland on the computer …it’s so lovely, has sweet music…I’ll just play for 15 minutes…it will be calming.

I sat at my desk thinking.  “I did it!!! I started a good bedtime routine.”   I’ve wanted to get back into meditation for the healing and for the peace it brings.  I smiled, clicked on the game, and as the beautiful scenery opened on my monitor, I thought how lovely the artwork was.  I bet I’ll finally sleep well tonight….I am filled with peace and tranquility.

I decided to turn the small desk light off to enjoy the game in the warm glow of the salt lamp.  I felt such peace and calm.

As I pulled my hand back from the desk lamp in the now slightly darkened room, my fingers hit the rim of the glass of dark red juice which was sitting just to my left between the keyboard and the desk lamp.  The glass started to tip!  My hand lunged forward to catch it and stop a disaster.   Instead of catching the glass in the dim light, I pushed it the rest of the way over.  I heard the waterfall of juice begin.

The once peaceful glow of the salt lamp now made it difficult to see the damage of the dark juice.  I turned the desk light back on.  I knew it was bad when I righted the seven inch tall glass to find only two ice cubes inside floating in just enough juice to barely cover the bottom of the glass.  That meant about 12 ounces of sticky juice was on the desk and pouring over the edge to form a puddle on the hardwood floor and baseboard.  Crap!!!

I ran into the kitchen to grab the roll of paper towels on the holder.  I pulled several off and put them on the edge of the desk to try to block anything more flowing over and hitting the floor.  I picked up the desk clock, letter holder, vase of silk roses, and the desk lamp. I wiped them each down with paper towels.  I removed the beautiful white tatted doily that had been under the lamp. It was now dark red from the juice.   Some of the papers in the letter holder were now stained with red splats.  I quickly looked thru the items to see if anything was ruined…just my statement to renew my license tags.  I do that online, so that’s no big loss.   Crap! …now I’m at the end of the roll of paper towels!

My heart is pounding as I raced into the laundry room, grabbed the tongs I must use to pull the paper towels from the top shelf of the cabinet and ran back into the living room with a fresh roll of paper towels and a plastic bag to put the used dripping wet towels into.  I then pulled the desk away from the wall in hopes the juice hadn’t hit that light beige surface.  Nope, I hit it hard enough when my hand lunged for the glass to make it splatter all over the wall! Streaks of dark red were now on the wall in about a two foot wide area.  I wiped it down and then sopped up the dark puddle on the baseboard and floor.  I knew I would be finding and wiping the sticky off for days to come, but it could have been worse…it could have soaked the monitor and the keyboard.  Count your blessings, Rosie!

As I type this it’s 1:11 a.m. and I’m all worked up from cleaning the mess.  So much for peace…so much for calm.

I have decided that the universe seems to prefer that I stay in a stressed out frame of mind.  Peace and calm just seem to find a “NO PARKING” sign in my brain and body.  Oh well, the replacement glass of cranberry/tart cherry juice is nearly finished.  I’ll play the computer game for half an hour and then go to bed and read.  It should only take a couple of hours to calm my brain now.  It looks like it will be 3 a.m. before I’m able to get to sleep (as usual).  So much for my calming bedtime routine.  I am now ten times more stressed now than when I started.  Oh well, deep breaths…..“Ommm…Ommm”

Crap!!  I still have a load of clothes in the dryer that need to be hung in the closet!   As I stood and stepped forward to go to the laundry room, my slipper made a soft ripping noise as I stepped in a spot of dried juice.  I guess tomorrow I’ll have to mop the whole room.  I should have just watched television!  “Ommm…Ommm”