Take a moment to stop and smell the shower gel

I’ve written before about the importance of making space in our lives for things that matter, and also about taking time to appreciate the little things in life. I wanted to share a couple of examples from my own life which I hope will inspire you to do the same.

The first is that I booked (and went) on a long weekend in Stockholm with my two sisters, which is something that we’ve been promising ourselves we would do for what feels like forever. The three of us haven’t been away together since I was 15 (when we went away with our parents), so it’s actually our first real girls’ holiday. We’ve all got crazy amounts of stuff going on in our lives right now, and we’re all living through some fairly challenging circumstances, so it would have been easy to have postponed the trip for another year, but we didn’t. We made it a priority to spend time together, and we very much enjoyed a lovely weekend of Scandinavian culture in each other’s company.

On a much more micro-level, I was speaking to a very good friend of mine recently, who is currently doing a lot of work on prioritising her own self care. She reminded me that we hardly ever take the time to stop and smell all the beautiful products that we buy for ourselves. So one morning last week, I stood in the shower with my shower gel in my hands, and stopped to take three deep inhalations. It has a delicious eucalyptus scent which I don’t appreciate enough because I’m usually in a hurry to get washed and out of the shower. But that day, I did appreciate it and it was wonderful. It was like the start of a meditation - when they tell you to start by taking three deep breaths - and I felt really revived and refreshed.

Sometimes, the tiniest of things can make a difference in our lives. Eckhart Tolle talks about micro meditation, and it’s something I used to do often when I got into my car - just to take a moment to sit and breathe in and out slowly, to be really present in the moment, before starting the engine and setting off to begin my day.

Try to find ways to build in the things that matter - the things that give you a little bit of space or recharge your batteries - however busy your life may be. Walter Hagen said it best: “Don’t hurry. Don’t worry. You’re only here for a short visit. So don’t forget to stop and smell the roses.” And in the absence of roses, shower gel will do nicely!