So, there’s a lot going on at my house right now, and some of it is, well, messy. My life always has the potential to get very messy. With four kids, five pets, and a busy career to balance, I never really know what’s around the corner, but sometimes the universe outdoes itself.

With family in town, my daughter getting ready to move across the country, and the busiest book travel schedule I’ve had in years, the pipes in our fully finished guest suite downstairs decided to fail spectacularly. Water also seeped under the floor on the main level, so we’ll need to have some of that flooring ripped up and refinished too. Mess. Everywhere.

The mitigation, demolition, and construction teams have been fabulous, and I’m sure the space will be beautiful, but seriously? I’ve had to dig deep into my toolbox of mindfulness techniques to maintain any sense of equilibrium, but after dusting off the rust from the last disaster, here’s what seems to work.

Let go. Hahahaha. But really, when we accept that so many things are simply out of our control, we don’t have to hold onto them anymore. We can let go and…

Breathe. My two decades plus of yoga practice has helped with this. When I simplify down to what’s essential, the list is pretty short. Taking one breath after another, putting one foot in front of the other, will eventually move me to the other side of the mess.

Okay, you say, but real stuff has to happen in the midst of the chaos, so how do you manage that?

Break projects down into manageable pieces. When I look at the project in its entirety, I’m for sure overwhelmed, but when I tackle things in small bits, I’m satisfied that I’ve accomplished something every day, I can see the forward progress, and I can continue to function day to day.

This works for writing books too. If I focused on the fact that I have approximately 90k words ahead of me every time I started a new project, I’d probably never write a single word again. Instead, I write scene to scene and chapter to chapter, until eventually I’ve created a whole book.

Laughter is excellent medicine. At the end of the day, laughing feels good. According to research from the Mayo Clinic, laughter can increase oxygen to the heart, lungs and muscles, increase the endorphins that are released by your brain, improve your mood and reduce physical pain. Not too shabby.

While I certainly wasn’t laughing when a cascade of water took out my entire sub-level, I definitely relied on funny cat memes to cheer me up in the days following!

Anyway, as I sit on my front porch listening to the soft summer rain, I am reminded that inner peace is always accessible, regardless of the circumstances. It’s a simple idea, but one that’s not always easy to embrace!

“Nothing can disturb your peace of mind unless you allow it to.”
― Roy T. Bennett