Here’s an interesting question: do you actively make the space to connect with yourself? As our lives are busy with friends, family, and social obligations, it is not uncommon to dismiss our own needs in favor of others. We get caught up in the cyclone of energy and it is hard to stop until either someone or something puts the brakes on us. So, what is it that fuels our energies? What “nourishes” us and what “feeds” us?
Sadly, there are times that too often we put our energy towards things that deplete us and not enough towards what nourishes us. And it is not until we are literally halted to a stop that we examine our actions.
I have been thinking alot about this and I know that it is my connections with others that nourishes me. The value of relationships, of human contact (whether in person or through a phone call or facetime), is integral to my being.
Here are a few things that I have determined that nourishes me:
Connecting with others
Exercise
Reading a mystery or a historical fiction book
Watchting movies and tv shows with my family
Warm sunny (no humidity days), sunrises and sunsets, a full moon and the first snowfall of the season
And here are a few things that I have determined deplete me:
Too much socializing without quiet time to balance it out
Guilt
Feeling overly responsible for people around me
Saying YES when I really want to say NO
Not getting time for myself
I encourage you to make a list. From now on, when faced with a question or a task, ask yourself- does this nourish you?