It took me 37 years to learn how to stand still. Best thing I ever did.
Some argue that standing still is not growth. That you have to 'move forward' to be considered in a growth mindset. Or that if you stand still you'll be reminded of the obstacles you need to overcome and fall back into a pattern of anxiety.
However, if you never stand still, how do you take in the beauty of what is around you, of what you already have? How do you even plan to move forward?
Life is not at a standstill when you're still
Taking a minute to breathe in everything that's around us is not only essential to our wellbeing, but necessary in order to get perspective.
More often than not we keep on going until something stops us in our tracks. And often it's our own body that says, "Hey - slow down a minute!" We might suddenly be more prone to injury or illness.
As women we all juggle so much between our personal and professional lives. And we live under such huge clouds of “achievement expectation” these days. It’s totally normal to feel the pressure when we have too many projects on the go or a never ending list of priorities to manage.
It’s okay to put something on the back burner for a while, this we know. The problem we often face is identifying what things to not do. Personally, when I can no longer see past the never ending scrawl on my 3-page long ‘get this done now’ list, I #phoneafriend. Leaning on someone for just a minute can often help me see what area of my life needs to give.
Perspective allows us to understand our thoughts, feelings, and needs
And without that, we'll struggle to make the best choices we can.
Task delegation isn’t just for CEO’s! I once explained to the person I used to live with that I just could not be the one to take the trash out anymore. So now he does it. He doesn’t put a new bag in the trash can but hey, every little helps!
Hitting the pause button is also a great way of taking a step back towards sanity.
The quieter you become, the more you can hear
Knowing that you need a break and actually putting aside some time for yourself are two very different things. But doing something for you is an important part of self-care. And how are you we going to teach the next generations how to look after themselves in this modern world if we’re not able to look after your ourselves 🤔
We shouldn't be bulldozing our way through life trying to avoid feeling or seeing - even the negative stuff. If we advance blindly surely we will look back and realize that we missed incredible opportunities for growth, passion, love...
Sometimes just being still is the best thing you can do for yourself. - Silas House
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