thoughts on oughts

i sliced a peach for breakfast and thought, "isn't there a school of thought that says a first taste in the morning ought not be a fruit?" 

so many swirling notions of what we ought to eat, do for a living, how we should exercise, so many philosophies on child rearing and education. how we should spend our time, how we should spend our money. i am overwhelmed with so many ought to's.

when we decided to homeschool, i stood before a firing squad of oughts. "you ought to choose this curriculum". "you ought to attend this tutorial". "you ought to visit this convention"."you ought NOT to homeschool". these are just a few.

when we decided to send our boys to ppppuuuuubbbbblllliiiiccc school, someone exclaimed, "that's a terrible idea!"{i appreciate that person's candor because i feel certain many were saying it behind our backs-wink wink}.

i confess that sometimes my decisions may not seem sound to the outside world {anyone who does not live inside my head}.can you imagine how the poor Mister keeps up?

a sweet young mother told me about a book i ought to read on parenting. the gist of the book from what she described is we as parents over congratulate our children hence squelching their work ethic and feeling of accomplishment. as she was telling me about this newly lauded new york times best seller, i thought, "but didn't i just read that we need to pad around our children's burgeoning self esteem?" fortunately for my children i fall into the slacker mom category so by the time a new way of doing things comes along, there's a 50/50 chance i'm already doing it.

i suppose like fashion, philosophical trends come back around every 10th season. food, exercise, parenting and the like. if i wait long enough there will be another book written about how i should coddle my children more and avoid anything but fruit in the morning. i cannot keep up. do i avoid meat and only eat vegetables or run to get a hotdog, but leave off the bun? we can wield scientific theory to back up our arguments most of the time. 

this morning i had the privilege of practicing yoga outdoors from a coffee shop. okay. can you fully grasp how insanely awesome that experience was for me? yoga, outdoors followed by a cappucino. and as i was on my mat, a plane flew across the tip top of the sky, right over the moon. if you don't understand how this was more magical than a unicorn jumping over a blue moon, then you are dead to me-it's like you don't even know me! kidding. but in all seriousness, yoga is my exercise of choice whenever i am not hiking. or swimming. i've been shushing that voice with "i ought to be running." "i ought to be lifting weights." "i ought to try that new trendy exercise gathering". but those are not for me. not.for.ME.

part of the reason i adore the practice of yoga is because it trains you to listen to yourself-to trust your intuition. to hear yourself. and aside from all the physical health benefits, this is the healthiest-yeah mental health. 

anytime i can practice trusting my instincts, hearing myself, learning to enjoy what i find is best for me in the moment, it's a good thing. and savoring a peach for breakfast seems fitting.

here's to hearing yourself first so that you can hear others-second. that's just what you ought to do.

and some mornings, i skip the fruit and head straight for the caffeine. 

xo,

gf