#beachmentality

[marykamerer]

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Adding some color to the path today. Have you been down this sandy walk? Heading to the beach after dinner for an evening stroll. The sand is just warm, and you can walk it in bare feet. Hurry and you can catch a spectacular sunset! #beachlife #coastalliving #onvacationforever #sunsetcapture #beachmentality #ncartist (at North Carolina)

[marisadonnelly]

I’m a Midwesterner at heart. I walk fast. I talk fast. I overschedule. I’m always doing at least four things at once. I don’t know how to say no. I work my butt off. I constantly get caught up in the rush. And more often than not, I’m too busy for my own good. Maybe you relate. (S/O to all the Midwesterners in the back!) Or maybe not. But something I’ve learned in moving to California is the ‘beach mentality.’ And I think it’s important for all of us, no matter who or where we are.

The 'beach mentality’ means slowing down. It means decluttering your life and ridding yourself of the things that don’t matter, the things that just take up space, the things that occupy your mind when they shouldn’t. It means being intentional about what you give your attention to, and learning to celebrate what’s around you, rather than always looking for the next thing.

Think about it – when you’re at the beach, you’re in the moment. You’re not thinking about the next item on the to-do list. You’re not thinking about what’s happening around you. You’re just laying there, feeling the sun on your skin, forgetting that life and time are continually moving.

I think we can all benefit from the 'beach mentality’ – loosening our tight grip on the things in our lives, remembering that we are doing fine and not overdoing it for the sake of proving our worth, letting go of what we can’t control, relaxing and appreciating, being happy damn it.

So I hope you try to add a little pinch of that 'beachy-ness’ to your life today. I hope you put aside what doesn’t need to get done and do something that makes you happy, just because. I hope you find time to see the little things, and to celebrate them. I hope you take time and make time, and not feel like you’re losing out on anything, but seeing, for the first time, what really matters. Because time isn’t going to stop for anyone. So why waste it by stuffing yourself so much that you can’t take a breath?