Self-employment and VAB

If the days go by too fast and you feel like you can't keep up, hit the pause button for a while! You need to stop by every now and then to check in and see how you're doing and how you're feeling! It's just at that moment when you feel you don't have time to do this that you really need to do it. The pause button is the best button ever invented. Sit down for a while, turn off the outside world, call it meditation if you like, and breathe. Give your body and mind time to just be for a while. Feel how your body feels. Are you tense somewhere? Does it hurt all over? Or does it feel very good? Are you happy? Do you feel sad? All feelings are okay, accept what is.

Last Friday was the birthday of our eldest daughter. For a couple of years now, we've been giving our kids experiences instead of gadgets. In this materialistic society, it seems like a wise choice. Of course there will be some physical gifts too, but the ones that are usually most appreciated are what we call "Mother's Day", "Father's Day" and "Family Day". We as parents decide when and what to do on the different days (the kids can have their wishes, of course!). Sometimes the days fall quite close to the birthday, other times we have to wait for our special days. For example, a mom's day might involve luxury coffee at a café, a trip to the cinema or a pedicure/manicure, while a dad's day usually has a sports theme such as skating, watching a live sport etc. The special thing about these days is that you get to be all alone without siblings and do something with a very present parent who isn't busy checking the phone or answering emails.

Lately, the little one has been making a lot of nice comments from a 4 year old's perspective! Thought I'd share a few of them, the others I'll keep to myself:-)

My husband travels a lot for work, so there are a lot of video calls. The last few times, the little girl has been kissing the phone hard every time, because Dad is actually on the phone! She sees him and wants to kiss him!

Now I'm almost there! So far it's going as expected, some days I could write a novel and others I feel quite uninspired to write. That's precisely the challenge, to keep at it even when something else might be more appealing. To get into a routine, to get a few lines down despite inner resistance. Usually I get into periods where I write a lot (unpublished, so far) and then months can go by without me writing a word. So I thought it would be a little harder than it is with this challenge. Today, however, has been a day when I'd rather do something else than write:-)

Now I've been out and about at two different events and picked up a lot of inspiration! However, I find it incredibly interesting that they choose to have such a clear division of content at HarmoniExpo and All for Health (Allt för Hälsan in Swedish). HarmoniExpo was held in Solnahallen at the end of October, while All for Health was run together with Sthlm Food.

I am often struck by how a situation or event can be perceived in such different ways depending on who you ask. Most of the time we only assume how we think in a situation when something happens to us, we rarely think about how the other party thinks and feels in the same situation.

Exactly 4 years ago I wrote about this very thing - that everyone should put themselves in the shoes of the other person and try to see what he/she/they see: Yoga Sutras - Thoughtful words about knowing yourself.