heyday: noun
hey·day ˈhā-ˌdā
The period of one's greatest popularity, vigor, or prosperity
This week I was laid up. I mean back injured, leg injured, joints aching, heating pad kind of laid up. My body was screaming at me and my 49 years felt every bit north of 65. I am literally known for my intense level of high and inspirational energy and I was left weepy on the couch praying I would feel better.
I was scooting down the stairs on my bottom to rest my throbbing knee as much as I could, doing laundry and organizing from the floor because I really don’t have an off switch (I am sure my therapist would have a heydey with that LOL). But I LOVE to be on the move at all times, doing all the things.
So while laid up - I read, I wrote, I took Zoom calls in my PJs. I went to bed early, I nourished my body, I drank all the water and Emergen-C vitamin water, and finally I woke up days and days later with less pain.
Everything was brighter. The coffee was more delicious, my kids voices more adorable, the dog even seemed like more of a blessing when I had to let him in and out endlessly - which had been an arduous task while injured.
I share this because I think it is so interesting how life works. When you have a perspective shift, or reach what I call an “Intensity Point” you realize that you are expending your energy in all the wrong places.
In my case, lately it was ugly energy - and feeling a bit sorry for myself frankly - stressing about things I needed to fix around the house, a rude comment made to me online and my messy office. Because ya’ll none of that matters - the world is so much bigger and our life is so much richer! In the absence of real issues/challenges, and I mean like REAL ones, our brains search for something to focus on. If we don’t feed/nourish it with things that matter - like a focus on our relationships, good health, and overall being connected to things we love - we will look for places of conflict and drama to worry about. The shift here for me was from the ugly buzz of frustration to extreme presence in gratitude.
So, today when I again entered the real work to get gas - it was a total blessing - and in fact such a blessing that I almost cried as I saw all the people bustle around smiling at each other as the sun started to warm our frosting cars.
I was so deeply grateful to be upright and “normal” and I was grinning like crazy while taking it all in. I wanted to wave to people, heck I really was feeling called to hug people or buy coffees for the next 10 patrons.
It was like the environment and its players around me were showing up more clear than I had seen in months - like a vivid technicolor dream. Everyone was smiling back at me too - the energy was contagious. I suddenly also noticed that there was a common thread of those around me, and that was that they were all serving our community or others in some way (USPS, Construction, landscapers) - and they were living in such joy. There was a buzzing energy with co-workers laughing and chatting and smiling like they were at a fancy dinner party living in their heyday.
In that moment, I knew that I had been too inwardly focused on challenges recently - instead of basking in the fact that I am blessed to be living in my heyday - right now, today.
And it hit me - What if we do not realize we are living in our heyday until it’s already past?
In college, I worked two jobs and took 18 credit hours a semester to gradate from my University. It was hard ya’ll but as I reflect - it was my heyday. As a new mom learning the diapering, hearing the screaming, being puked on and only able to wear Target clothes for a year and a half - that was my heyday. Before I heard the life altering news that I had cancer and lived in an innocent bubble that health is endless until you are old - that was a total heyday. So I think you get it and I certainly got the huge fat sign from the Universe in that moment.
What if today is more of a heyday than tomorrow? And it likely is because let’s be real - we are all DYING one day at a time but I think on this hamster wheel of life we also forget that we are also LIVING one day at a time.
So I am left feeling that if we are not aware and open and rooted in gratefulness then we miss it. If we are constantly in search of our future goal and that next big place or thing we are missing the heyday we are living in.
I am not saying do not want more and strive for more - look I literally make a living helping people chase and achieve big goals - but I am saying also root in the gift that is today.
Capitalize on today's energy and health and be grateful for the prosperity that you have both worked hard for and been gifted by the Universe. Because it can change in an instance. Accidents happen, bad phone calls come in, health declines, people we love suffer or die, we have less money, we lose great jobs, we enter a global quarantine - you name it - things happen. And there is never a going back. There is not a return to “before” and we are only able to live in the after. So the only way to deal with that reality is to continue to appreciate the day that is today and remind ourselves that we are living in the heyday of our live.
How can you create rituals to recognize your daily heyday and root in the gratefulness for your abundance and prosperity?
TOOL TO TRY: Gratefulness Rituals
Create rituals that remind you to be grateful. This could be a daily reflection before bedtime, a gratitude jar where you deposit notes of appreciation, or a weekly gratitude circle with friends or family.
My favorite - before bed every night write down 5 very specific things that you noticed that day that you are grateful for.
Bonus points if it works Share with me @brandnewdaywithstaceyk on IG!