Are You in Alignment?
Do you ever have days that feel magical?
Days where you feel extraordinary? You feel alive and happy? You can't stop smiling? Your heart could burst from all the wonderful things that happened all day long? Aren't those days the best?
Why do some days feel like that while others feel like the universe in conspiring against us? Could we live very day with that magical feeling?
These are the questions I've been asking myself lately. I don't have a lot of answers, but I do have a theory. The more I practice being present and becoming aware of my surroundings, the more I notice when I feel really aligned... and when I feel really not aligned. I purposefully use the word "aligned" rather than good or bad here. I think the words good or bad come with all kinds of connotations and make us feel certain ways. I also do not believe there is such a thing as only good days. Some days are simply not great. When we're looking at our lives and our days as good or bad, it's easy to over dramatize what is actually happening and get caught up in what we think "good" or "bad" means. For example, say you wake up, you go to make coffee, and you immediately spill grounds all over the floor. Most of us would say that's a pretty bad/annoying thing to have happen. Then you get frustrated, and because it was "bad," YOU start to feel bad and grumpy and before you know it, the whole day is going wrong. You've taken on the "bad" energy of the spilled coffee grounds. I find the more I look at life from the perspective of whether I'm aligned or not, I'm less likely to get caught up in the drama of the "good" or the "bad" and I can be in whatever kind of day it happens to be, or really, whatever MOMENT it happens to be. It also allows me to keep a level head to make different choices if that is what is needed. Take the same example: I spill the coffee grounds on the floor. I get upset. Then, I do a check. Was I aligned with what I was doing? No. I was tired and woke up grumpy and therefore my head and my body were not aligned and the grounds spilled. A very natural thing to have happen if I wake up grumpy and tired. It takes the pressure off of me and something I did "wrong" and reminds me that coffee grounds just spill sometimes. It also allows me to see that this one event doesn't have to ruin my whole day. I'm already more aligned. So, what does alignment actually mean? Here's the most interesting definition I found: Alignment (v): to adjust (two or more components of an electronic circuit) to improve the response over a frequency band, as to align the tuned circuits of a radio receiver for proper tracking throughout its frequency range, or a television receiver for appropriate wide-band responses.
If you think about it, alignment is like tuning into your own frequency, rather than letting your wires get crossed.
Just like we adjust electronic circuits to improve electricity, we can also adjust our own selves so we feel our best, even in moments that might be difficult or challenging. This then begs the question, what do we align/adjust to? I say align to what you value. The next time you have one of those magical days or moments, think back on what it was that made it magical. For example, yesterday for me, it was seeing people connect and be together. It was spending time with my mom. It was moving my body.
From that, I see that I value:
People and community
Time with family
Moving my body
f I know I value those things, I can start to look for the opportunities to align to them. If I get off work and I'm tired and want to eat a cookie, I could do that. The question to ask though, is "is it in alignment?" for me today, it was not. So, I made a different choice. What WAS in alignment was to take a walk outside in the fresh air with my dog. I came home with a smile on my face and happy heart from walking with an incredible view. Look at what you value and how can you start to align to those things in your days, so you can start to shift your energy and your experiences.
Perhaps from there, it really might be possible to live every day with at least a little bit of that magical feeling.