Write Your Own Story. Live That Life / AR.
Toddlers are curious. They are constantly exploring the world around them with awe and wonder.
“Why is grass green?”
“What’s lightning?”
“Why do we have snot?”
“Why do we die?”
“Why do only some foods stain?”
“Why do I yell when I get mad?”
These are just some of the questions Everly has asked in the past week. Her quest — to make sense of the world around her. Her willingness to explore and uncover truths and possibilities is constant.
Choose the latter.
Read MoreIt is so easy to focus on what we need to do, what we haven't done or all of the fear and anxiety we have about our future selves.
But it is not without accomplishment and hard work we have gotten to where we are — even if the location is different than planned — and we have got to take time to celebrate that!
So go on, give yourself some space to celebrate! What is something you are proud of yourself for enduring, overcoming, taking on, walking away from or purely acknowledging in your life?
Hold it. Honor it and remind yourself in the moments when everything feels beyond impossible or like you have gotten anywhere that it’s just a new mountain. It’s meant to feel hard. And, this is not the first time you have stood in the face of adversity.
I work with a lot of people who identify as high-functioning, over-performing individuals. They have lived much of their life chasing perfection and needing to have it all together and be the best — not to put others down but to give themselves an opportunity to simply be in the space.
In our work together, the subject often comes up about the need to rethink how they are engaging with their time and energy and without fail, as soon as I suggest shifting their goals and expectations, their defenses emerge and they say,
“You think I have too high of standards?”
or
“You think I should lower my expectations?”
It’s a reasonable conclusion to draw — and on some levels, yes, I am saying to lower your standards in some areas. But the reality of what I am saying is:
Read MoreCan we find more balance in the way we are showing up in our lives?
I was (and still sometimes am) the person who would vacuum the house and conveniently go around furniture rather than move it. I'd wipe the counters but sometimes "forget" to lift up the appliances and get underneath. Rather than make the bed and straighten the covers each night, I'd just throw the crumpled heap over me and go to bed — usually in whatever shirt I happened to have been wearing that day.
I would overbook myself and not take time to actually sit and eat a meal (meaning I eat while doing 6 or 7 other things), take breaks or be in the moment. I'd rush to complete my checklist rather than invest in the project or task itself, sometimes giving 50 or 60% to a task rather than my full 100% just so I can get it done and move on.
This happened so much that sometimes, I would mentally be on to the next thing before I had finished what I was doing and get flustered if anything held me up.