What do you do to get "centered" again?

Music, and if available a nice solitary blustery autumn day.
That’s the plan for today anyway.

I also have a lot of recordings of different thunderstorms I listen to and just read a book and hang out.

yes music and also a good pre-dawn run always puts stuff in perspective for me.

- Nap
– Music
– Visit my acupuncturist
– A day alone to focus (although these are rare)

Clean. I’m not talking about doing laundry, I am talking about down on hands and knees with a tooth brush scrubbing with bleach.

I don’t know what to do. I frequently feel like my life is in limbo, and have lost my footing recently. I haven’t been able to get back on track yet, and currently have no idea how I will accomplish it.

Music, yes indeed. I am not a runner, but I have been a walker in the past and deep cleaning, I remember as good for these kinds of funks.
augustian, you described how I am feeling to a ‘T’. We should talk. :0)

Volunteer and give back to the local community. I find that it provides me an outlet to feel like I am actually accomplishing something and the recipients (whether they be kids who I help mentor or the homeless at a local shelter when I help serve food) are very greatful. Makes me appreciate the things I have more….and realize that maybe life isn’t going quite as planned but I am still very lucky to lead the life I do…

15–20 minutes of light meditation seems to do the trick for me.
No Oms, just breathing and passive reflection.

Journalling helps me sort through all the stuff circling in my mind and helps me organize my thoughts. By getting it out of my head, I am able to look at situations a bit more objectively, and often it helps me find clarity.

I play with my puppy, hang out with my friends and stay in, cry, write..

12 steps and you don’t have to be an addict to use them, although I do believe we all have an addiction to something.

The more I think about it, the more I realize my life isn’t centered or on any particular course. I don’t have a set plan for where I’ll be in 1 or 10 years – and I’m quite OK with that. If I was purposely heading for something, or everything I did centered around one thing, I’d soon start wondering what else there is, change my mind or question if I made the right choices.
As long as there is living and learning involved, that’ll do for me. I’m not too fuzzed about what’s around the next corner, I’ll know when I get there.

Meditate

Oh, and make sure everything is organized, even something as seemingly insignificant as my closet or trunk of my car!

When I do something different, step away from normal it helps to take a more objective look at what I’m doing and figure out my direction.

Travel’s a good way to do that, even a simply weekend trip. Bonus points for going somewhere new (or haven’t been for a long time) and not ‘checking in’ your e-mail or facebook.

Take on a new project that forces you to commit to something new for awhile. Volunteering is great and you’d be surprised at the different ways that you can contribute. Taking a class with someone is good too…

Depending on how much time I have, I travel outside the city or out of the country when I can manage it. Being out of my common environment helps put things in perspective and reminds me of who I was before a particular incident or situation and who I’ll be afterward.

As august, I don’t know what I should be doing to fix things. I usually feel better after I’ve cleaned my room, but there is simply nowhere to put that mess right now. I feel so confuzzled!

Projectile therapy.

inspirational workshops.

Drink and shoot pool by myself.

I cross my legs and flatulate in an attempt to clear out my brain. Just kidding.

I go running almost every afternoon and exercise always relieves stress for me and helps me organize my thoughts. Sometimes I’ll sit down also and make a list of priorities that I need to attend to and write up a timeline for completion so that I have a forecast of how I’m going to fit everything in my schedule.

As someone also mentioned above, listening to music is a nice distraction from everyday troubles and this might be a nice method to use to get yourself focused again.

Blue freedom did you mean flatuate? To pass gass? or flagellate to whip, or scourge?

Thanks for correcting me on that, lynzeut! LOL I almost didn’t catch it in time to edit it and yes, it was flatulation.

I guess I could whip myself too if I’m in the mood to be a masochist. :o)

The best way to become centered is to take a day away. I borrowed this concept from Maya Angelou. Basically, you plan to spend an entire day by yourself. You make plans so that you have no responsibilities. You leave your cell, your blackberry, laptop, and any other communication device at home. And you do whatever the hell you feel like. Sleep in as late as you want. Stay home and read. Wonder around in the city. Do whatever. But important rule: strive for anonymity. Make no plans; just let the day unravel as it might. It’s wonderfully refreshing.

I’ll go out with friends, although I feel in retrospect this is counter-productive; I’m only distracting myself temporarily. Another stalling tactic is to watch comforting films, old favourites, such as the Marx Brothers or Jimmy Stewart.

The better option is to make a list or a ‘plan of action’ of things to do (no matter how small), to give me some direction or motivation. This helps me vaguely feel I am getting back on track.