Creating Balance, Fulfillment & Joy – Takes Self Care & PLAY
Posted on March 31, 2011 by Suzanne Ferguson, One of Thousands of Leadership Coaches on Noomii.
I already take care of myself everyday but what do I do when the wheels are falling off? PLAY!
It is up to each of us to be happy, fulfilled, and balanced. This is why much of what I do as a coach rests in and returns to how you take care of your self. The extent that you take care of YOU is the extent that you can offer your self; your knowledge, your service, your love, your expertise…to others.
The external world will continue to place demands on you and it is up to you to determine how to respond. If you find your self at the affect of and in reaction to the world around you, take it as a sign that you are out of balance and you can choose to do something about it, or not.
The healthy choice to doing something about it is to take care of you WELL. How and when you take care of your self will depend on what works best for you. My daily practice begins by asking my self how will I enjoy my day. This question takes into account everything that I need and want to accomplish AND adds how I want to experience it. This question puts me in the driver’s seat. I have a baseline of self care that supports me well each day and includes daily exercise, alone time, yoga, and Reiki. These routines take care of me well on most days; however, on days when the “wheels are falling off” I have to add more if I want a smooth experience and if I don’t (my choice) I suffer.
When I choose not to suffer, my response on challenging days is to play – yes, I said play. And, let me tell you it feels absolutely counter intuitive to play when my old beliefs and behavior patterns tell me to meet bus-y-ness by getting busy. But when I add play my energy, my focus, and my sense of well being increases and I am able to meet the challenges of the day with calm, humor, and certainty.
If you find your self driven by interruption, distraction, and other peoples fires, AND you don’t like it you can change your behavior. There are two parts to changing your behavior and involve addressing what is in your conscious mind and what is in your unconscious mind.
To address and change your “conscious mind” behavior, follow these steps:
• Be aware of what it is that you do and do not want.
• Take an action you wouldn’t normally take.
• Practice the new action consistently until you’ve established a new habit.
To address and change your unconscious mind behavior takes introspection and may require that you work with a professional who can assist you. But to begin, every time you are tempted to fall back on old behavior patterns ask yourself, “What is there to learn about my self in terms of choosing what has me suffer?” …and, see what you learn.
