We Bonded Like Nobody’s Business Today

Today was the third full day of school for my first graders and it certainly was a memorable one…

The beginning of a school year can be very tiring–not only for the teachers–but more important, for the kids. There are lots of rules and practices to learn and it’s difficult to get back into a routine after a few months off from school.

I could definitely tell by mid-afternoon that my kids needed a break, so right around 2 pm I told them it was snack time.

I normally play soft therapeutic music in the background throughout the day to set a peaceful climate in the classroom for learning, but during snack time it looked like they needed a little Disco, so I popped in a CD of classic Disco music to lighten up the day.

The kids came alive and one little boy excitedly asked, “Mrs. Savini, are we going to play freeze dance?”

I turned to him, smiled and then replied, “What a terrific idea!”

I laid the ground rules about ‘safe dancing’ and let my fingers walk on the CD player for the music to begin.  The first song was Gloria Gaynor’s classic song, “I Will Survive.” 

The kids were hysterical to watch and their laughter was infectious.

A few songs later and we were all dancing around the room to ‘Le Freak.’ We were all bonding in a beautiful way that you simply don’t get from just the regular grind in the classroom. 

Just as I reached to pause the music for the freeze in our ‘Freeze Dance’ I notice a flicker of a light and the fire alarm went off!

The kids quickly followed procedure that we practiced the day before and headed to the door with our music still rocking on in the background.

We went outside smiling from ear to ear and waited to be called back into the building as patiently as we could.

As we walked into our building we could hear our music blaring from our classroom because the fire alarm was no longer sounding off. The kids looked at one another and then at me and we all chuckled.

My heart smiled because there was a hint of pride beaming from all of my lil’ 1st graders as they turned the corner and danced into our classroom.

They were proud that our room was rockin’ out and I was proud because they were one!

The truth is that our education system has a great deal of pressure right now, but we must always remember that we all learn best when we feel safe, accepted and loved for exactly who we are.

Today, my kids were Disco dancers, tomorrow, who knows…

Lots of Love & Tons of Light,

Vicki

When You Know You’ve Done Enough

It’s been only a few days since I have sent my 1st graders soaring into their summer vacation. This time of year is always difficult for me. People often say, “Mrs. Savini, you must be so excited because summer vacation is coming,” But the truth is, I always have mixed feelings. Of course, I look forward to the summer. This is the time of year that I am able to sleep a little later, decide what I want to do on a moment’s notice and spend lots of quality time with my own child, but I will also miss seeing my precious students smile every morning as well.

In the last week I often found myself dazing and wondering if I had done enough; Had I taught them enough writing? Had they learned all they needed to in math and reading? Most important, did they learn to believe in themselves, speak their truth and quiet their minds to go within and hear their soul speak?

It’s hard to know really. I teach 1st grade. My students are 6 and 7 years old and I am one of the first teachers they meet on their long journey of education. I started to wonder if they would truly remember the important lessons. Not the lessons of math, science, reading and writing, but the lessons of the heart and the lessons on believing in the person staring back at them in the mirror.

Instinctively, I found myself reviewing these important lessons voraciously as I wondered if they’d truly remember in the years to come and then the last day of school rolled along…

It was Thursday and I had a wonderful gift from the Universe as one of my previous students who had moved to another state came to visit on the last day of school. I was elated to see her and spend some time with her but I didn’t expect the gift she would bring.

On that last day of school, I went about my regular routine of signing autograph books, opening gifts and sharing fun stories with the kids and then after my students went off to gym for the last time in this year, my former student and I had a chance to visit and a beautiful gift unfolded.

We began to talk about her new surroundings and then she said, “Mrs. Savini, I will always remember your classroom and you. You always made us feel so safe and taught us to believe in ourselves.” My heart swelled as I realized in that moment that they do remember the important stuff, they really really do. 

I looked at the clock and realized we had to get the little ones. I smiled at my former student and then went to get the kids feeling much lighter than I had before.

When you put your heart and soul into your every day life. When you are mindful-present in the moment-and give children an experience instead of curriculum to remember, magic happens!

I now know that I no longer have to wonder if I’ve done enough. We are always enough when we are simply being ourselves. Thank you Kels. I love you! Mrs. Savini

Maybe We Could All Be a Little More Mindful

I pride myself on being mindful-focused on the present moment. I wrote about the importance of this in my recent Hay House release, Ignite the Light: Empowering Children & Adults to be Their Absolute Best and I have come be to known as ‘the Mindful Teacher,’ yet yesterday I had a revelation…

For the past few weeks I have found myself discussing the topic of mindfulness on radio shows, in my classroom and in my own home. My husband is in real estate and he’s a high energy kind of guy. He has a difficult time slowing down and staying in the present moment so I guess I’ve been ‘preaching’ to him a bit of late because I have been talking to him about being more mindful.

Last night we took our son out to dinner and then headed to the mall for some quick shopping. I had my phone in hand and checked the text messages, Facebook and emails a few times but thought nothing of it. We enjoyed our evening together and then headed up the Northway to go home.

It was at this point that a song came on the radio from years past (N-Sync-Bye Bye). My husband and I smiled as he began singing to the top of his lungs (all the wrong words-of course). Then, I found myself looking down at my phone again.

I don’t know why but I thought back to ‘the old days’ when we didn’t have smart phones and computers on the run. As my husband sang to his hearts content, I had a revelation- I was NOT being mindful. Why is it that we constantly allow ourselves to be pulled away from the present moment?

I distinctly remember a few months ago while traveling through an airport that I noticed a family of four sitting at a table and every person in that family was engaged on an electronic device. I felt sad for the kids because there was no conversation and a true disconnect.

I then looked around the airport and noticed the iPads connected at every table. There were very few people in that airport actually interacting with one another face to face. Instead, they were all engaged in electronics. It truly made me sad but I felt somewhat proud of myself that I was being mindful and talking with my traveling companion.

Yet, here I was last night, as my husband reminisced our youth, checking my damn phone.

I aptly placed the phone in my purse and didn’t pull it out again.

Let’s be honest. We live in a fast paced, busy, technical society and electronics come in handy, but we are certainly allowing social media to over take our lives and we are all suffering from this because we are causing disconnection in our families, with our friends and from our higher self.

Take the time to notice today how much you check your phone, go on Facebook or rummage through emails. Then ask yourself, ‘Do I really need to do this right now?’

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.” ~Hilary Cooper 

Truth is…if we are not mindful, then we are missing the moments.

Don’t miss another ‘moment’.

Lots of Love & tons of Light,

Vicki

 

It’s Official-Ignite the Light!

Ready to Ignite the Light?

Hi everyone!

I can’t believe how fast time flies but my new book is being released in exactly ONE week!!! (But you can PRE-ORDER TODAY)

IGNITE THE LIGHT: EMPOWERING CHILDREN & ADULTS TO BE THEIR ABSOLUTE BEST

Whether you are a parent, a teacher, a child-care worker, or just a person who would like to leave this world a little more peaceful than you found it, Ignite the Light – Empowering Children and Adults to Be Their Absolute Best, will give you the tools to educate, enlighten, and empower the children in your life to see that they are perfect just as they are.  What happens in childhood doesn’t stay in childhood, which is why childhood is too precious to ignore.  This book is a practical step-by-step manual for change and message of hope that provides tools from which all children—and all families—will benefit.

Check out the book trailer that was filmed and produced by an 11 year old who shines brighter than the SUN-(how cool is that?)

CLICK HERE FOR BOOK TRAILER

I am on a mission to help children and families be their absolute best by igniting the light within.

In this book, I take the 7 Essentials that I have taught for years to both children and adults and give you a step by step manual to apply to your life and empower the children you serve (whether you are a parent or teacher, you know exactly what I mean by that).

There’s nothing cerebral about it. I keep it simple because I want you to pick up this book, devour the message and apply simple principles immediately so that you can not only be your best self, but more important–ignite the light within our kids!

Top 5 Reasons to Order Ignite the Light today:

1) You will learn 7 simple essentials that can chance your life by helping you to create strong foundations for children and repair and strengthen your own foundation.
2) Your kids deserve a strong foundation that will help them to navigate the waters of life by connecting with their inner power.
3) You deserve a chance to get off the hamster wheel and start living instead of existing.
4) There are tons of tools to help kids believe in themselves and speak their truth, and when this happens our kids excel at school, laugh at bullies and shine brighter than the sun!
5) When we believe in ourselves and speak our truth, we not only create a brighter future for our kids but we live a happier life!

How about some gifts?

Because you have followed my work and are on my super important email list, I want to give you a few free gifts for ordering my book;

1) an automatic download of a typical meditation in my classroom. This is approximately 12 minutes long and can be used with both children and adults, even if you think you have a hard time meditating! I have 1st graders who use this method and believe me it works. Let me teach you how to go to YOUR ‘Happy Place.’

2) I will include you in a free 90 minute group coaching call based on the 7 essentials in the book! (Date in June to be announced.)

How do you get the free gifts?

Simply purchase the book from amazon (click the link below), then send your receipt to zohee@vickisavini.com with “I’m Ready to Ignite the Light” in the subject line and you will receive an email with your immediate download and more information on the coaching call.

Lots of Love & Tons of Light,
Vicki

Honoring the Light Within with Mindfulness

Wow, I just had an amazing conversation with my 8 year and I’m truly honored to be his mom.

This evening he came home from baseball practice and seemed a bit emotional. He said he got hit by a ball, but I knew in my heart it was more than that.

When we laid down to talk before bed I went with my gut (as I always tell parents to do because we know what’s going on with our kids more than we’d like to admit).

This is my sons first year in little league and it can be somewhat intimidating to try something new when others have been at it for a while. I turned to him and began to say those very words. As I talked he began to cry.

I stopped talking and opened my ears to listen to him intently. Sure, he may have been feeling a bit unnerved by this ‘new’ sport but it was more than that. What was bothering him most was that other kids were being mean to the ‘little kid’ on the team…

He started off by telling me that some kids were telling him what he was doing wrong and it hurt his feelings. It was then that I reminded him that if we are not part of the solution, we are part of the problem. He asked, “How am I part of the problem mom. They were putting me down?” I answered, “Yes, hunnie, that’s true, but you allowed it to affect you. You are part of the solution when you stand up for yourself and help others to stop and think about their own actions. You might have done that by saying, ‘thanks for the tip but I’m going to listen to the coach,’ ‘last I checked you weren’t a coach,’ or ‘wow, when did the Yankees draft you?” He liked that last one.

I thought we were through the woods but then he got really upset and began to sob uncontrollably. I reached out to him and asked what was wrong. He sadly replied, “Mommy, I was mean too. Some of the kids were making fun of the ‘little kid’ on the team and I agreed with them that he was small. I didn’t like the way it felt inside but I wanted them to like me. Mom, I was part of the problem!“

I smiled a bit and wiped his cheeks and said, “Yes hunnie you were part of the problem, but right now you are turning it around to become part of the solution.”

Many children (and adults-who are we kidding) never take the time to be mindful–present in the moment–and think about their thoughts, actions and feelings and my 8 year old was doing that on his own!

We then read my children’s book for the upteen-millionth time, The Light Inside of Me and hugged tightly at the end.

We all have a light deep within us that shines brightly when we come from a place of love and are living our truth and dims when we allow fear to take the helm. In short, when we feel good, we shine and when we feel bad, we are dim or we dim the lights of others.

The next time you see a dim light, be present in the moment. Be totally mindful of what you are thinking and feeling and then instead of reacting, respond with love.

I am so proud of my son this evening (and every other minute of his existence). Tonight and every night I feel honored to be his mom.

Lots of Love & Tons of Light,

Vicki

Release Your Pain & Be The Light

“Why can you not become enlightened? It is because of the obstacles in your mind and because the root of your pain is deep.” ~Hui Neng

As many of you know, I am currently writing a book to educate, enlighten and empower children and adults to be their absolute best. The writing process is quite interesting. It is truly an ebb and flow journey that causes you to soul search deeper than you ever imagined you would. For months I wrote fairly freely and everything was rolling along quite nicely and then I came to chapter 3 and experienced what is known as ‘writers block’.

This particular chapter is a very important chapter because it introduces the concept of core beliefs and helps us all to understand how beliefs we formed in childhood shape who we are today.

Instead of getting frustrated with my lack of free flow writing I removed myself from the computer for a while and began to ask the Universe for guidance. A funny thing happens when you ask the Universe for guidance…you get exactly what you’ve asked for!

According to Abraham-Hicks (The Law of Attraction, Esther & Gerry Hicks), “A belief is a thought that you simply keep thinking.”

We all have beliefs. We have beliefs about the world and how it works. We have beliefs about people and how they function. We have beliefs about ourselves and what makes us tick on a daily basis.

Chapter 3 of my book focuses on beliefs that formed in early childhood that we have validated over time. These beliefs were born from thoughts that we had about ourselves or life in general and they dwell deep within our hearts–at our very core.

A core belief that I have struggled with my entire life is that I am not good enough (another way to say this is not worthy). Many people look at me and think ‘I’ve got the world on a string.’ They have always seen my accomplishments as monumental, yet I have struggled to feel good about my own successes.

After a difficult, but enlightening lesson from the Universe (that I asked for) I can honestly say that I totally get where this came from now…

 

When I was a child my mom never sent me to school without a pretty dress and complete hairdo. I was made fun of for this because I was ‘too perfect’.

As the years went by I poured myself into art. I won several art contests and was made to feel that I was ‘favored’ by the art teacher because of my ability.

More time passed and I found my inner voice and became an accomplished singer. You can guess that this brought criticism from my peers as well.

I was just like every other kid, I wanted to be liked and I wanted to fit in, but it was becoming increasingly obvious that in order to do that I had to dim my own light.

As an adult, I am saddened to say, that I am still experiencing these ‘hits,’ so to speak when I accomplish something or speak my truth.

For the past few weeks this core belief of unworthiness has come up for me fairly strongly. I’ve been very hard on myself and unfortunately ‘dimming my own light’. Tonight I asked myself why I do this? Why is it that I cannot get past this obstacle?

The answer was within the pain of this belief.

As a child I learned to downplay my successes so that people would not make fun of me or cast me aside because they felt that my light was too bright. I’m sad to say that as an adult I was dimming my own light for this same reason, but who am I really helping if I am not being true to myself and beaming my own inner light?

Marianne Williamson teaches us that, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
― Marianne Williamson, Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of “A Course in Miracles”

I’ve come to realize that I am no longer that little girl who needs people to like her. Instead, I am a woman who has learned to like herself and love the little girl within.

I understand that no-one truly ignites their own light by dimming another and I hope you will see the same by finding your own inner light.

Don’t play small. Be who you are and allow all of your magnificence to illuminate the world because the only person, place or thing stopping you is…YOU.

I think it’s safe to say that I asked for guidance and the Universe delivered. I’m no longer ‘blocked’.

With Lots of Love & TONS of Light,

Vicki

 

The Power of the Present

Hello everyone!

I am sorry that it has been so long since my last post.  It seems like life sped up for a bit and I got stuck in my head instead of my heart!  So, here I am today with a raging headache and feeling inspired to write…who knew?

I am one of those people who believes that when your physical body is manifesting ailments, it simply means that you are not listening to your body and so it turns up the volume a bit so that you will take care of yourself.

Of late, I have been getting these terrible headaches that knock me for a loop and make it difficult to focus.  I almost always feel dizzy when they are present and I feel quite sick to my stomach.  Well, a doctor might say quite a few things about this.  Perhaps it’s a sinus thing or dehydration from not drinking enough water.  Of course, it could be stress or a reaction of some sort from allergies.  Instead of seeing the medical doctor today, I went to my chiropractor, Dr. Nancy Cappiello (that’s my usual route when I’m out of balance).

With a throbbing headache and worry in my eyes I asked her to ‘fix me’ and tell me what I could do to better support my body.  She looked at me with a smile and said, “Are you taking your D3?  You know that D3 supports your immune system?” My response, “Um, well, I have the bottle on the kitchen counter, but no, I haven’t taken it in a good month or so.”  My chiropractor continues, “What about exercise? How much exercise have you been doing?”  At this point she just got a grunt from me because I haven’t exercised in such a long time that I am embarrassed to answer this.  Finally she says, “Stress? Got any of that Vick?”  Um, hello, yes, I am a wife, mother, teacher, business owner, life coach, author (who is currently in the middle of writing a 70,000 word book) head of a gazillion committees at school, organizing a HUGE Christmas extravaganza for the kids at my house on Christmas Eve morning, and the list goes on.  Yeah, I’d say I’ve got some stress!

She stretched my neck out with this amazing cranial thing she does and I left feeling a little bit better.  As I was driving home I felt the tears well up in my eyes and all I wanted to do was go home and snuggle in a blankie.

You see, this morning, I woke up with this terrible headache and I was in slow motion from the get go.  I arrived at my classroom later than usual and just couldn’t get my butt in gear.  I wasn’t fully prepared for my kids as they were walking through the door.  The stress level builds.  I check my email and there are a million things I need to respond to or take some type of action on.  The kids are saying good morning and coming to my desk to ask questions or tell me a story, but I couldn’t even turn to look directly at them because I had to finish the email in front of me.  I continue with my day and my head begins to really throb.  The slightest thing that the kids do now really sets me off.  A tiny little interruption, a tap on my shoulder (the ones who can reach) or following me around the classroom.  My responses to them were a bit curt and totally unlike who I truly am with them and who I always want them to see.  I realize this and try to slow down a bit so I don’t take it out on my innocent little bystanders.  Then they are off to specials, lunch and recess, yet I feel so bad that I wasn’t my best self with them.

I was tearing up as I was driving home because I was replaying this whole morning over and over in my head and realizing that the main issue was that I was not present in the moment.  I started the day behind the eight ball and just couldn’t get ahead of the game.  If I only took the time to center myself before the kids walked in the door and let go of all of the thoughts and worries that were crashing through my brain.

When I arrived home from the chiropractor, I took my earrings and hot mama boots off to lay on the couch with the dog.  I closed my eyes and asked for guidance.  A few hours later, I woke up and reached for my iPhone so that I could look up what headaches mean in Louise Hay’s book, Heal Your Body.  I looked up headaches and what did I see?

Well, that certainly explains it for me!  I asked for guidance and I got it.  Yes, my headache is actually here.  It was throbbing immensely and making me feel sick to my stomach. However, once I was able to realize that I was causing this headache because I was not taking care of myself and most importantly, not in the present moment, I was able to shift my belief and the headache is alleviated.

There is great power in the present moment.  If I was present, I wouldn’t have been carrying my thoughts, insecurities and worries deep inside of me.  If I was present, I wouldn’t have caused myself to have this very unpleasant headache.  Most importantly, if I was present, my students would have felt the love that they normally feel from me when they walk into the room.  I hope that they will forgive my grumpiness today.  I am human.  I’ve learned my lesson; I will take my D3, reignite my yoga practice and drink lots of water. I set the intent to be present in the moment from this day forward. Want to join me?

Five quick steps to getting yourself into the present moment: (Take Five)

1) Sit in a comfortable position.

2) Close your eyes.

3) Breathe deeply, in through your nose and slowly release that breath out through your mouth.

4) Repeat several times just listening to your breath and feeling your breath until you feel your heart rate slow and the mind ease up.

5) Recite this mantra, “I am fully present in this moment and all is well.”

If you start to get ahead of yourself again or you find your thoughts shifting to worry and fear, take 5 once again!

Lots of Love & Tons of Light,

Vicki

When Our Children Speak Their Truth

Last week was a busy week.  It was the first week back from vacation and somehow, I always feel like I need a vacation from a vacation.  I may have been a bit distracted during the week as I multitasked to get things done to catch up from the week before and prepare for the weeks ahead.  Perhaps I didn’t realize that I was becoming a human doing instead of a human being until my six year old gracefully pointed that out to me…

I had just finished yet another load of clothes and I was checking email when my sister came up on Skype.  I hadn’t talked with her in a while so I accepted her video request.  My son was playing a computer game in the home office so I went to another area of our house to chat with my sister.  Within a few moments of our conversation, my son screamed, “Mom!  I need you! This crazy computer is stuck again!!”  Our office computer is quite the dinosaur, but it’s good for games on the computer (or so I thought).

I calmly called up to him, “Hunnie, I’m Skyping with your aunt right now.  I’ll be up in a few minutes.”  A few minutes later he screamed again, “Mom!  I n-e-e-d  y-o-u-r  h-e-l-p!”  This time I replied, “You just have to wait until Mommy is done, and then I will be up.”

Apparently, that wasn’t good enough because moments later I heard him stomp down the hall and slam his bedroom door.  I just shook my head and continued my conversation.  Finally, I told my sister I need to go check on my son and up the stairs I went.  As I climbed the stairs I was thinking how nervy it was of him to slam his door in frustration, but then I was thinking how frustrated both my husband and I get on that computer as well.

I slowly opened his door and saw him on the floor playing with a toy.  I looked at him and said, “Nico, I was talking with Aunt Bri and I couldn’t come to help you in that moment, but slamming your door, seriously, who do you think you are?”

He turned and looked right in my eyes and very matter-of-factly said, “I am me. That’s who I am.”  For a brief moment I was stunned.  I work very hard to teach the children in my class and my very own child to speak their truth and that is exactly what my kid was doing right in front of me.  I smiled and said, “You’re absolutely right.  I appreciate that you are you and that you can say that with pride.  What I would like to know is, do you think slamming the door a good choice?”  He looked at me and replied, “I’m sorry mom.  I was just so frustrated.” 

We then talked about what he could do when he feels frustrated again instead of slamming the door, like possibly walking away and playing with something else to settle down (like he did after slamming the door).

While talking with him over the next fifteen minutes of so I realized that he was not only frustrated about the computer.  More importantly, he was frustrated because he felt like I wasn’t there for him.  He had been entertaining himself quite a bit as I caught up from our vacation and me sitting down to check email and then Skyping was likely, the last straw for him.

Mind Full…or Mindful?

It’s a GREAT question, isn’t it?  Lately, I have realized that my mind is totally full and I am absolutely NOT mindful when my mind is full…

How often do you catch yourself stuck in your own thoughts?  How many lists do you make in your head a day (and later transfer to the iPad or paper)?  Making lists is not the problem.  The problem  is…the list never ends!  You will always find more and more to do, and you will be completely disconnected from the present moment if your mind is full.

A few nights ago, I was preparing dinner for my family.  My son wanted fish sticks.  As I took them out of the oven, I asked, “Nico, what do you want to dip these in?  Do you want ranch dressing or ketchup?”   He responded with, “Mom, come on, don’t you know me?”  The tears welled up in my eyes because, in the not so distant past, my son would never have had to ask me that question.  Unfortunately, I have allowed my mind to become completely cluttered with random thoughts and I now see clearly, just how easy it is to fall into the trap of a full mind!

So what is it that’s on our mind all of the time? Finances, family issues, career, colleagues, relationships, responsibilities, and the list goes on…

We can constantly plan in our mind what it is we have to do and how we should go about it, but we are missing the big picture.  In all of our planning and doing, we are not being. 

There are several definitions for mindfulness, but here is one I found that is simple and right to the point (just the way I like it)…

Mindfulness is bringing one’s complete attention to the present experience on a moment-to-moment basis (Marlatt & Kristeller, 1999).

Today, my son and I were driving down a country road as we headed to a birthday party in my hometown.  He was playing his DS in the backseat, while I was trying my hardest to clear my full mind.  We were only about 20 minutes into our hour and a half drive and I was already feeling my mind fill up with ‘stuff’.  As we traveled down the road with only a few cars, I noticed a dog close to the side of the road.  He was an adorable hound dog and he looked like he had a tag on, signifying that he certainly had an owner.  I saw that he was dangerously close to the line on this winding road, so I beeped my horn as I saw a few cars approaching in the opposite direction.  This peeked the dogs attention and thankfully slowed the cars down to avoid a terrible event.  I continued to slowly drive down the road, thinking in my head, “That poor dog.  I wonder if his owner even knows he’s out.  What will happen to that little guy?”  I started to pick up speed and went back to my mind full of thoughts, which now included some guilt for not stopping to be sure that the dog was home with its owner.

Within a few minutes, we were about 2 miles away from the dog and I was still feeling badly about the little guy, but focusing on where we had to go instead of the present moment.  I looked in the rear view mirror and my son had tears in his eyes.  He said, “Mom, we have to go back to make sure that dog is okay.  We just have to!”  Without hesitation, I turned around to go and find the dog, hoping and praying that he was okay.  As we approached the area where we first saw him near the road, we noticed that he was heading into a house with a person.  I pulled into the driveway and talked to the owners for a few minutes.  It appears as though our beeping cautioned them and made them realize that the dog had gotten out.  They were very thankful and we were very excited to know we made a difference.

We backed out of the driveway and headed down the road.  I knew what I was feeling in my heart… pure bliss.  I then looked in the mirror at my son, and said, “Nico, I am so proud of you for asking Mommy to go back to make sure that dog was okay.  You are such a kind and caring young man and you did the right thing.”  I smiled and continued on.  A few minutes later, I looked in the mirror again and saw my son crying.  I asked what was wrong, and he replied,

“Nothing Mommy, these are tears of joy…tears of joy.”

Up to that moment of seeing this hound dog on the side of the road, I was caught up in my own stuff. I was thinking of all the things I needed to do and how long this trip was going to take.  I was focusing on what was to come, instead of what was right in front of me.  You would think that just seeing that dog almost lose his life would have been enough to break that stinkin’ thinkin’, but it wasn’t.  As soon as we passed, my mind started to drag me in again, until my son, a six year old, forced me to BE in the moment.  He never questioned going back to check on the dog.  If he was driving that car, he likely would have pulled over as soon as he saw the dog near the line of the road! His first and only thought was to be sure the dog was safe.  He was so clearly in the moment, and not worried about where we had to be in the next few hours.

When we first began our journey today, I will be the first to tell you that I had a full mind and felt a bit heavy in my heart with worries.  I wanted to raise my vibration, but I wasn’t sure how.  I was wondering if I should listen to some positive CD’s, like Dr. Wayne Dyer or the Law of Attraction, but my heart still felt heavy.  It wasn’t until I shifted my thoughts away from myself and to the needs of another that my Spirits lifted.

Today, I feel blessed to have children in my life who teach me daily lessons and remind me to stay in the present moment.  In the scheme of things, it really didn’t matter that we were 15 minutes later than we had planned.  I certainly wouldn’t have solved my day to day worries during that car trip, nor would I have solved the problems of the world.  Staying in the moment can certainly bring so many blessings to us.  Today, being mindful helped a dog get home safely with a simple little “beep,” and it reminded me just how important it is to stay in the moment!

I know that life can get busy and it’s easy to allow the mind to fill, but today, and every day, when you catch your mind filling with all of these random thoughts (that are usually fear driven), take a breath and find something beautiful happening right in front of you.  If that’s too hard, then watch a child  for just a few moments, because truth is, children spend most of their time in the present…being mindful!  As we guide our children to shine their lights, let us remember that they have much to share with us as well.

Be Mindful!

Vicki

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