Closed for Maintenance

What does it mean for you…

closed for maintenance?

Closed for Maintenance hand drawn lettering sign. Typographic inscription for informing customers. Handwritten text with rough texture. Noticeable display letters saying out of service and off work

I have to admit, sometimes I am kind of annoyed when I see those few words. Places that I frequent quite often like the gym, the pool, or a favorite restaurant. I DO NOT want them to shut down for any amount of time.

As selfish as that may sound, I know me well to know, I like routine and structure. I find comfort and solace in the daily trust in the same thing and in the same way.

Change is hard for us. You get that right?

Recently I saw these few words and it got me hearting…again!

What if we were paying attention enough to know change was coming our way, to anticipate the change that was on the fore front, and to honor the journey for what change can offer to us? What if we allowed the change by honoring the moments before as a sacred sanctuary?

A sacred sanctuary.

A time and a space to pause, shut down, and close up.

A sacred sanctuary of within to pay homage to all that has been, to all the growth and development, to all the learning, to all the witnessing, and to all the fun.

Every day brings a wealth of changes. Think about it…morning turns to night, the temps go from cool to warm, we swap one outfit for another, flowers open and they close, we drive to work and we drive home, things get bigger and things get smaller…ALL within a 24 hour time span.

The question is –

How many times do you retreat to your sacred sanctuary to pause, to pay homage and to appreciate the wealth of growth and learning?

Pausing is not meditating.

Meditation is a deep listening practice of stillness. Pausing is the quiet breaks within each day so that we make space for the inevitable, the blessings, the miraculous, and the spiritual surprises.

Our days are filled with them, if we stop our addiction to busyness and the image of busyness. Every act in our daily lives is not meant to be hard work or even challenging. We are meant to be entities of flow and smooth surfing.

Here’s where the maintenance comes into play and actually becomes a vital ingredient of a conscious lifestyle.

If we do not maintain the inner workings of our sacred sanctuary, we will lose what matters. Think of it as climate control. We spend enormous amounts of money conducting warfare against anything that challenges a clean and fit climate…our outer worlds. Yet we spend little to nothing safeguarding our inner beings. Isn’t that climate control as well?

What if we spent our valuable resources taking care of our inner climate control and who we are?

What if we maintained a healthy energy vibration that allowed for that to flow out into the outer climate around us?

Lance Secretan once said, “Authenticity is the alignment of head, mouth, heart and feet – thinking, saying, feeling, and doing the same thing – CONSISTENTLY.”

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Here’s how this looks for us on earth –

Our valuable resources are those things that truly matter…bigger and most important to our living and breathing. Things like the air we breathe, the energy we spend, the feelings and emotions we project, the way we move, the people we choose to hang out with, the statements we believe are truth, those we give authority to, and the food we eat. You notice I said nothing about clothes, cars, houses, and money. Yes, these are needed in order to live. Yet they are NOT our most important commodity.

And, believe me, we have gotten this sooooo wrong over and over again. Our ‘out to impress’ has taken hostage our true nature and has over spent our MOST valuable resource.

It’s time we take a long, loving stare into who we are and really take action on that climate control.

That’s where the consistence comes into play.

Spending our valuable resources on the MOST important…what truly matters. This is the awakened way to a conscious lifestyle.

Do you know why you do what you do?

I’m talking about why do you schedule your children for 10 soccer games in one weekend. I’m talking about why do you go out with people who drain your energy and you return home crabbier than when you left. I’m talking about why do you drink that glass of wine when you first get home and go on to drink three or four more. I’m talking about why you need to buy that dress or those jeans.

This is some straight shooting truth and to really be consistent with our inner climate control, we need to get real with why we do what we do.

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I was there. Years ago I began watching my self and why I did so many of the things I did. I found my self wanting so bad to fit in I would say YES to events I did not want to attend. I heard my self griping and gossiping for the sake of fitting in the conversation. I saw my self spending money on things so I would look good in front of others.

And one day, I woke up and asked my self, “WHY?”

I sat still and waited for the answer. It was a horrifying and ugly cry kind of moment that caught me by surprise.

I was not truly being my most authentic self.

I was playing nice so to keep the peace because conflict did not feel good. I was doing what would make me look good, although no one seemed to notice and on the occasion they did notice…my insides told me a different version. I would do what others expected of me and I began to think my goal was perfection.

I was stressed out and my body was shutting down from exhaustion. I knew I was selling my soul to the devil (just a metaphor here).

This awakened moment led me to the next level and getting curious about what inspired me, excited me, got me jazzed up, and made me feel good.

I went into a sabbatical and closed me down for maintenance. I got quiet. I sat alone. I opened my eyes to who I was, what I was doing, where I was going, and how I was getting there.

Closing for maintenance was the change agent.

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We have to get out of our stress patterns and limiting belief systems. We have to mix up our routines. We have to move the energy of our life in order for it to fire up again.

For my inner climate control, I close for maintenance many times a year. I shut down so I can fuel up. I go off the clock and get still in my life. I work the great presence.

Before I leave you, here are some of my “closing for maintenance” tools –

Stretch

Be willing to learn something new everyday. Read a book. Read an article. Watch a movie or you-tube episode. Learning is expanding. Each evening as you end your day ask, “What did I learn today?” Learning is either adding to or deleting from. If you are not consistently evolving, you are not living life to the fullest. Push past your daily grind toward a re-evolution.

Peel the layers

Peel the bullshit that is covering you up from being your so amazing YOU. Whether this is the masks or fakeness you portray to fit in, the material possessions you have to look a part, or the pressure you exude onto everyone in your life to live up to an image. Like who you are, how you dress, what your life looks life, who your partner and children are, and where you are in life. Stop faking your way into existence.

Get rid of distractions

Busyness is nothing but a distraction from what is in front of us, a hiding from what makes us uncomfortable and seems hard, and another way of fitting in to some sort of societal illusion for what is important. We have become accustomed to thinking that if we are busy, we have reached success and prestige. Not true at all. We are losing who we are and we are not meant to be in that illusion of “soo many things to do.” Throw out any choice you make out of fear, obligation or guilt. These kind of decisions will never reap you the outcome you are looking for. When making decisions, ask, “Does this ______ (person, activity, etc.) feel good? Will this ______ (person, activity, etc.) move me forward and help me grow?” Your answer will show you the way.

Find your ‘gravitas’

Own ALL of your amazing self and share it authentically with each person you meet each day. Look in the mirror, what is the most impressive thing about you? Share it. Tell it. Shout it. Show it to others. AND love it!!! If we can get to a place where we honor all of who we are, that loving flow will vibrate out and the causality of such a loving feeling will resonate with others. There is some truth to the butterfly effect.

XO,

Kristi

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