“The Energy Of The Mind Is The Essence Of Life. Knowing Yourself Is The Beginning Of All Wisdom.” – Aristotle
A is for Autopilot.
You’ve been in your routine for so long you can manage it on autopilot. Maybe it looks something like this. Wake up. Shower. School uniforms. Breakfasts. Lunchboxes. Homework, Notes. Pull something out of the freezer for dinner that night. Make mental note to get rice, broccoli…. Get the script filled, visit the bank, make the appointment, put through the sprits registrations – whatever! Ask the kids to feed the cat, dog, budgie. Give up and do it yourself. Run your taxi service to the bus stop, school, train station….The get to work or get back home to start the next stage of your day… before it all starts again tonight!
A is for Awesome
Yes, it is because, wow, you manage a lot, don’t you? If you actually sat down and listed everything you get through in a day, a week, a month your head just might be in danger of exploding! So, please take the compliment.
A is for Asleep.
What I’ve found in common with lots of us multi-tasking, ever juggling women is that we are often asleep in our own lives. By this, I mean asleep to our own dreams and needs and interest and desires and joy…… We’re so busy doing the next thing on our To-Do List, there is rarely time to explore what’s important to us. And so we allow that part of ourselves to drift away….. to fall asleep until such time as Prince Charming arrives with a kiss or an alarm bell goes off.
The latter is far more likely!
And so A is also for Alarms, Awareness and your Awakening
Have you had those little jolts where you suddenly realise that you’re not sure what makes you happy or brings you joy?
Let’s try an exercise.
I want you to grab a piece of paper and quickly, without hesitation, write down at least 10 things that you absolutely LOVE to do. Ten things that light you up and you get to do on a regular basis. That are just for you.
Is that tricky?
I’m pretty much expecting that it will be….. because every single woman I have given this simple task to manages to scribble down maybe 2 or 3, 4 at a pinch and then….. Ummmmm, ahhhhhhhhh. Hmmmmmm……
You’re not used to putting your desires front and centre on a regular basis are you?
And perhaps if you do, it’s pretty common for your Inner Critic to pipe up and start her observations about “should you really be doing this? Don’t you have to do x, y or z? What about (insert your own options here) your husband/ child/ sister/ parent/ job etc…
And then the guilt kicks in.
Well, the alarm bell that sounds loudest is the one that awakens you to the fact that you’ve lost touch with the things that give you joy. That you’ve fallen down the Priority Totem Pole in your own life.
And the beauty is that once you have that awareness, you can then make the decision to change.
You can begin to wake up again.
To put yourself First Equal in your wholehearted life.
Start with a small step today. Create a Joy List and start to add to it each day for the next week. Big and little things that light you up. New experiences you want to have. Old experiences you miss. From dancing in diamonds on the beach at dawn to a moment alone with a fragrant cup of your favourite tea. From escaping with that new novel to playing Abba LOUD as you get ready to go out. From enrolling in that language course to sorting through your old photo albums and reminiscing….
Whatever lights YOU up is perfect.
And then make a commitment to yourself that you will begin to infuse your own snippets and slivers and pieces and great big gorgeous chunks of joy into your life. Regularly. Because that’s what life is all about. And self-care is not selfish. It’s an investment in you and the ripple effect of your happiness will spread far and wide….
Let me know what brings you joy – I would love to hear and you might just provide inspiration for someone else!
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. – Lao-tzu The Way of Lao-tzu
