Connection (Part II)

You might describe yourself as a hermit, meaning you only seek relationships with a few people, if any. However, the few relationships you have are likely as meaningful — or more — than how others perceive their friendships. Your relationships with nature, your home, or your environment are probably more thoughtful and deep than other people experience who are constantly involved in a social situation. The point is, if you take the time and make the effort, you are ‘at least’ as connected being a ‘happy hermit’ as you are by pursuing a million human relationships. In fact, it’s the depth of relationships that tends to count for more than the quantity of relationships.

If you’re a social person who has a ton of friendships, that can be great too. The key is to make sure you’re able to balance ‘depth’ of relationships with a connection to other things outside of people. Most commonly, a super social person will remember to have connection in their lives with other people, but she might be missing a connection to nature, her home, or some plants and animals. Instead, she might be focused on phone calls, meetings, hanging out, and thinking about other people. If you find yourself in this circumstance, I would suggest you revisit the idea of spending time on your own, isolated from other people, and with the goal of appreciating and connecting with nature.

Today, I challenge you to see connection differently. Instead of seeing it as unidimensional, let’s redefine connection.

From now on, let’s balance by spending time connecting with:

People

Sometimes when you meet someone, you’ll immediately notice you have a connection. It’s like you’ve known this person your whole life, but just met him now. Pay special attention to these relationships, as you’ll experience a greater level of connection in them than others.

Places

It’s super easy to go through our days thinking about the next thing coming, a conversation we had earlier, or daily stressors/challenges that may arise. Instead, think of those things in the moment, and be present with yourself and your environment in other moments. Work on becoming an observer of the weather, aromas, and location in which you live. Before you know it, you’ll be spending time grateful for your living environment, instead of neglecting it by accident while caught in thoughts.

Animals

There’s something unique and special about connecting with an animal. For some reason, we tend to connect with other people through conversation and shared ideas; with animals, we get to just ‘feel’ and have fun. What a great way to balance and optimize the emotional side of ourselves!

Plants

Plants — and flowers — provide us with lovely aromas, pleasant sights, and pollen; which leads to fruits, vegetables, and honey. Taking time to smell flowers, sing to plants, and appreciate both will lead towards a happier day, every day.

Trees

Ahh, breathe. Take a big breath in, and as you hold it, think about the fact that the trees around you gave you air. Not only are they beautiful, do they feel a calm energy that emanates around them and increases your quality of day, but they actually provide you with air to breathe. We are bound to trees for life; we need them to survive. Yet, most of us spend very little time looking around in nature, surrounded by trees, and attempting to connect/be present with them. This is one of the easiest changes you can make to increase the quality of your day — and life.

Earth elements

Wind, water, light, and the ground; accessible at all times, and each one provides an energetic connection to our planet. By thinking about each Earth element, using your senses to appreciate it, and then attempting to feel how you relate to it, you will be connecting with an ‘organism’ (planet Earth) that is able to supply you with limitless energy, enthusiasm, joy, love, and answers to your deepest questions. Take the time to connect with Earth, as your quality of life will directly correlate.

Spirit

Think about the world that is bigger than yourself — gazing at stars, clouds, oceans and mountains — and consider how you fit in. Your relationship with the non-physical world is perhaps at least as important as your connection to your physical reality. Your thoughts shape your reality, so take time to feel connected to the spirit inside of you, how that feels when you communicate with other spirits, and how you interrelate. You’ll be centered on an ageless human question, and there’s a reason we all think about spirituality: it helps.

Be connected. Challenge yourself to see connection differently, in a more balanced and healthier way. Observe the quality of your day when you take time to connect vs when you forget, and then observe how quickly your day improves when you remember to connect for even a few minutes.

I’m so grateful for you,