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It's that time of year when we are reminded of how life has a natural flow of change. New life is showing up with the sprouting of flowers and vegetables as well as the birth of animals of all kinds.
A time for endings and beginnings. Graduations, summer vacation, new jobs, saying goodbye to old friends and making new ones, weddings, etc. It often brings a mixed bag of emotions. Sorting through the joy and sadness, excitement and fear can be draining and daunting. However, if you choose to, it can also be a time of impact! Consider this, nothing has meaning except the meaning you give it. You are more at choice than you might be feeling right now. This is an opportunity to put it all out there. Brain dump, gather information, ask questions, be open to a multitude of perspectives, listen to the answers of your deepest longings and desires, make choices, create plans and goals and step into what's next with clarity, confidence, courage and energy. Graduation day, just like our day to day life situations can be both exciting and scary. There is excitement for our accomplishments, memories, what we have learned, our friendships and hope for new opportunities. At the same time, there is the uncertainty of the future and the unknowns of what's next. Questions such as, how will I use what I have learned to create a great future? How will I accomplish my goals, dreams and aspirations? Who will I become? What will I encounter along the way? Who will be with me for the journey? If you think about it, aren't we all faced with those questions on a daily basis? In my perspective this is a time of year that we can put ourselves in the place of those graduates and if we are honest, also ponder those questions as they relate to our lives. Last newsletter I talked about the difference between taking too much responsibility for others vs. taking responsibility for yourself first. Each twist and turn in the road of our existence invites us to continue to course correct to experience more of what we want out of life. Along the way, we also get to experience ourselves becoming more of who we want to be. However, it does require that we put ourselves first to create the necessary clarity, focus, courage, energy and mindsets to create a life we love. Take some time to revisit and update your next steps.
I can support you in answering those and many more questions that create the necessary framework and actions to make your deepest longings become a reality. Contact me at, 985-860-8861 or denise@empoweringpotential.com. to be your partner in possibilities and your NEXT STEP!
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If you have ever been on an airplane and listened to the safety briefing, the attendant will explain the reason for and the proper use of an oxygen mask. They say you must put your mask on first then help those that are seated near you.
To me, it parallels life. I would suspect many of us have disregarded the need to take care of ourselves first. We may even find ourselves and our resources exhausted, depleted or absent from time to time due to the many ways we give ourselves or our resources away. Instead of putting on our oxygen mask first with the situations and circumstances of our lives, we hurry and scurry about trying to fix, manage and control the people in our lives. Often we do this out of some sense that we are helping, supporting, taking care or easing suffering. We find ways to step in even when they didn't ask us and we are upset when they ignore, refuse or dismiss our attempts to ease their pain or suffering. Even if they accept our offer, it usually comes with unspoken attachments, agendas or conditions. Notice the many subtle ways oxygen or "life" can be drained from relationships. In our attempt to give, we actually take away the potential for others to take responsibility for themselves. Their learning, growth and potential is diminished when we make their business ours. It is like we are taking their oxygen mask away from them. What if the suffering you are really trying to diminish is that which is inside of you? When we project our own internal, unhealed, unprocessed or incomplete suffering onto others, we go to sleep on where the real healing and taking care can make a difference. It is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Practicing taking care of yourself with healthy and forwarding thoughts, words and actions will diminish the futile attempts to unconsciously "get your real needs met" through engaging with the situations and circumstances of other people's stuff. Observe this as a turning point and practice putting your oxygen mask on first while allowing others to do the same. Now, don't get me wrong. There are people that love when you step in. It takes the responsibility off of them. It also gives them someone to blame when things don't work out. Pay attention to the oxygen drains in your life. Are they people, thoughts, emotions, actions, choices, attachments, beliefs, etc? And on the flip side, where or with whom are you an oxygen drain on others? Next time you feel frantic, anxious, stressed or fearful of what is going on in someone else's life, stop, put your oxygen mask on, take a deep breath and look inward. Notice what belief, story, judgment or attachment is calling for your attention and ask yourself a question. Am I taking too much responsibility for others or not enough responsibility for myself? Your capacity for and experience of FREEDOM is directly related to your willingness to take responsibility for your own life first. What can you do to turn the attention back on you and your unhealed, unprocessed or incomplete thoughts, words and actions? Your partner in possibilities and your NEXT STEP! Contact me at 985-860-8861 or denise@empoweringpotential.com. |
Categories© 2009 Empowering Potential LLC.
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