Justin Donald Leader

My life has been chaos for more years than I can remember now.  Every day I attack life relentlessly trying to do the best I possibly can.  However, in the past few years I have started to hit a block of frustration towards the end of my day.  Not because of good or bad events that have occurred but more so because I am finding that I don’t take time to breathe.

A few weeks ago I started setting reminder alarms on my phone for certain times each day.  These are times of the day where I was feeling the most drained or I knew I needed a queue with an action tied to it.  Something deep down in my psyche told me this was something I needed to do.

The alarm that I am finding has had the greatest positive impact on me thus far is the one I set for 11:55 AM every single day, 7 days a week.  The alarm is set to my favorite piece of classical music and one that instantly brings me peace, “Moonlight Sonata” by Beethoven and the reminder is simple, “Eat, Breathe, Regroup”.

I honestly had no idea that this would work.  I had found myself charging through my lunch hour, not eating healthy, stressed to the gills and by 4:00 PM I was dying inside.  At 5:00 pm, I was ready for that dinner meeting beer and comfort food.  Now when I hear this alarm, I instantly take 3 large deep breaths of air, I find the healthiest meal I can depending where I am and I force myself to take 30 minutes to regroup my thoughts.  Not only has my work performance improved throughout the rest of the afternoon, my mood has as well.  I am practically stress free “rockin’ and rollin'”, well into the evening.  I now am finding that I look forward to my pre-lunch ritual which has allowed me time to reflect and do one of my favorite things; write.

I believe we all need reminders and today during my “self-induced break”, I wrote the following: “The world is very unforgiving; be forgiving. The world will give you gifts; appreciate them. People will be cruel; find the kind ones. You will suffer much disappointment; embrace the times of joy. You will fail far more than you will succeed; be patient. When you do succeed; stay humble. When you see someone struggle; lend them a hand. Time is our most valuable possession with today being the youngest you will ever be; maintain perspective. When the grass looks greener; first find value on the earth below where you are currently standing. Worry will eat away at your happiness; choose to have faith. Life is going to test you, that is a guarantee, whether your answers are right or wrong, that doesn’t much matter. What matters most is that you learn from each question you are dealt. You must persevere from question to question without ever stopping. It is only when we quit that the darkness consumes the light. When the universe is dark; be the light. Always be the light….”

This might not work for everyone however I consider you to give it a try.  Stick with it for a few weeks and let me know the outcome.  Consider this a reminder to set a reminder throughout your day.  Your mind, body and soul will thank you.  – JDL