So there you are – you’ve got 73 new emails, a phone that won’t stop ringing, a 2 pm deadline at the office, and you’re in the middle of the nastiest breakup in history. This is officially a meltdown. You fight back tears, but you know that you’ve reached your limit and something must change.
If you’ve ever been in this type of situation, you know how it feels to be facing Superwoman Syndrome – that nagging feeling of not being enough because you can’t be, do, and have it all at once while looking like Beyonce’, making money like Oprah, and dropping knowledge like Maya Angelou. I’ve spoken to women all over the world who have dealt with this and yet we all feel so alone – as if every other chick on the planet is making it all work effortlessly while we fail miserably. This feeling of needing to do it all and be it all usually starts in our teens and follows us into womanhood. We don’t even realize it until we have some type of breakdown or until we look up and realize that we’ve been so busy running on life’s treadmill in our Louboutin stilettos that we’ve forgotten that we’re human beings who require mental and emotional nourishment to be our best.
We have all heard the instructions of the airline attendant reminding us to put on our own oxygen masks before helping anyone else with theirs. And so it is in your life. No matter how many unchecked items there are on your to do list or how much your best friend needs you to bail her out (for the third time this week), you have to be happy, healthy, and filled up in order to show up at your best in your life. Think about it: how often have you felt guilty and selfish for saying no or for simply taking time away for yourself? Your personal success and happiness is the beginning of the success you create in every area of your life. This means fostering a mindset that encourages self-love, rest, pampering, and indulgences. In order to truly be an empowered woman who experiences feminine success, you have to get comfortable saying no to the good so you can say yes to the great. There’s nothing wrong with delegating a task to someone else or delaying a commitment for the sake of maintaining your own mental, emotional, and physical health. You can even encourage yourself by saying "I am caring for myself so that I am better able to care for others" or “The investment with the highest return is the investment in myself” or some other mantra that will encourage you. It also helps to remember that self-care doesn’t have to be composed of massively time-consuming acts. In fact, the best prescription for taking care of yourself is probably small, daily rituals; for example, taking one half-hour for yourself at the beginning and end of the day to meditate or journal or spending some time at the end of the day alone in a warm bath or relaxing on your patio.
Whatever you decide, make it a daily ritual to feed your spirit before putting on your Superwoman cape. You’ll find yourself more balanced and ready to handle the day. The oxygen you need is all around you; sometimes you just need to be reminded to breathe.
No comments:
Post a Comment