The beauty of sunrise and sunset (pictures =)

These pictures are from a wonderful sunset recently in small town San Crisanto where I have been living the past several months. There have been many amazing sunrises and sunsets, and this happens to be one of the most spectacular I have seen in my life. Captured with my old iPhone 5c, no filters or any edits.

The past few weeks have been especially stressful as I waited the results regarding my medical school interviews. A mix of anxiety and fear of not being accepted and possibly having to reapply again; I applied to few--and very competitive-- schools in hope of saving money and getting an admission from one of my top choices. On top of this, I am also trying to wrap up my research in San Crisanto in order to return to Mérida for data analysis, present my preliminary analysis in March, and so forth... As I walked along this shore, each wave from the ocean seemed like a gentle reminder to slow down. And soak in the sunset and all of this amazing planet in which we live.

While I have been meditating every day in the past 3 weeks so far, I find that the tranquility dissipates slightly as I go about my day. One thing I have noticed is that meditation could be a sustained effort throughout the day. I breath deeply and fully every once in awhile, and take note of my surrounding, taking a step back from my activities to just be.

Though I still experience anxiety, I have been doing well with reminding myself to come back to the breath. In addition, I have my little companions (three kids ages 5-7) that help remind me to be playful and enjoy the sun more. They tell me quite straightforwardly that I am becoming boring, staying in my room and working on my computer for the majority of the day. When I am not working, I am eating or napping. I could not help but smile and feel gratitude for their honesty.

I have been doing a second meditation for the day during the afternoons, and Edgar (age 5) has taken a liking to joining me the first 2-3 minutes before his kid energy takes over. I find it cute that he is the one that asks and reminds me "Vamos a hacer meditación?" Edgar makes sure I stay on top of things.

This picture is of Edgar and myself. Little Edgar stuck these sticky notes on my while I was meditating. Took some strong concentration to maintain my eyes closed and continued through all the distractions 😌

Below are some other photos of sunrises and sunsets from my phone :)