| The “P word” stops us from making our collective dents in the universe. Yesterday, we focused on dealing with constraints because “sometimes” we use constraints as excuses for procrastination. I do anyway, so maybe this is more of a “Constraint Confessional” than anything?:-) We have 5840 hours of awake time each year (if we’re getting 8 hours of sleep). Those awake hours are often spent in psychological punishment. We sit on our respective Fear Fences, rationalizing what we can and cannot do. We believe every thought we think and every feeling we feel. We inflict our own pain, or blame someone else for it in a true professional blame shift mentality. We disengage easily – after all, it’s a whole lot easier than being fully engaged or present. We feel ineffective and small maybe … We’re frustrated at the lack of things getting done and the distance from our unmet goals. Shampoo. Rinse. Repeat. Timothy Butler suggests that those in the workplace should “job sculpt.” In other words, find better ways to make the job fit better and make it more enjoyable. We can do that, though, with anything! It’s a matter of reconnecting and re-examining the fulfilling parts. Remember Robin Sharma’s quote? Energy flows where your attention goes. Flexibility gives us grace in our lives and with those whose lives are closely tied to ours. This one thing has helped me become so much happier in life, even when things weren’t great. How do we do this? 1. Go with the flow. Maybe your baby is teething, your toddler is having a meltdown, or your mom, who lives with you, decides to scramble some eggs, and it’s 3 AM! Go with it. LOVE ANYWAY – you can’t control everything. 2. PAUSE and PRAY. You don’t need to lose it, you need your knees! The One who made you hasn’t left you alone with nothing – the miracle of prayer is available to ALL. 3. Accept the bad days with the good. You’d never appreciate the sunshine without the occasional rain! 4. Being frustrated isn’t a mortal sin. It’s NORMAL! Give yourself some grace, space, and a huge helping of self-compassion. 5. Practice gratitude. Gratitude and anger cannot exist together. A gratitude practice brings you to the present. 6. Breathe the box. Box breathing is a SEAL technique that works with your body to bring down the stress and activate the parasympathetic nervous system. 7. Say “I don’t know” or “I need help.” When you are at a stand-off with your brain, ASK for help, confess you don’t know what’s next, and help will come. That’s how it works! |
