In speaking with a client today, she spoke of having just returned from an extended family vacation. While sharing some of the experiences she had along with some much-needed wisdom she had received, it was clear that her real surprise was in discovering that until she fully stopped, she never realized how absolutely exhausted she was.
Sadly, that is not an unusual occurrence.
How frequently does your vision of what you want in your life call you to keep pushing, maneuvering, and working so that everything “falls into place”?
How often have you told yourself that “one of these days” you are going to slow down?
Have you found yourself longing for those moments when you are doing something that calls for a true belly-laugh?
Ambition is a wonderful thing, as is the desire to take your family to the next level of financial security and emotional connection. Never is there a doubt that those things should be assessed, evaluated, and planned for. Concrete plans help ensure that your dreams become a reality and give you a clear focus on what is needed to achieve those goals.
Always, however, there needs to be the realization that intent, not will, allows these to unfold in such a way that you are still able to stop along the way and “smell the roses”, feel the ocean breeze, or relish the laughter of children. You not only deserve these treats, your body, mind, and soul need these experiences to help maintain balance and health.
All disease begins on an energetic level. By that I mean, it is when your energy is depleted that you step into survival mode, begin to enter that flight or fight (push, push, push) energy which depletes your adrenal system, leaving you exhausted even after a good night’s sleep. This system is supposed to be for emergency situations, a fire, a major accident, or a crisis, not as a way of life. Long term usage of survival mode, “I will stop after……..” then, because of such depletion, turns to your immune system for energy and thus weakens your immune system.
Any predispositions you may have, which never needed to be actualized, can be ignited when your immune system stays weak for extended periods. In addition, you become more susceptible to whatever viruses or diseases may be going around because your ability to resist invasion is so limited.
Under these conditions, emotionally you lose balance, and depression, anxiety, or rage become far more pronounced. Spiritually, you can reach a point where none of this makes sense, you feel lost, without real purpose, and your visions and even life can begin to lose value.
The bottom line, please don’t wait until your vacation occurs to allow you to see how exhausted you truly are.
One: go to bed tired, not exhausted; two: stop in the midst of each day to laugh, connect, and experience awe; and three, recognize that appreciation and gratitude change everything…. Your spiritual, emotional, and physical health require it.
We are all called to continuously become more and more of who we are meant to be. We each have a unique skill, presentation, or gift we are here to share with the world, making it a better place for all of us. Honoring you, your health, and your joy is the best way to allow all that to unfold, naturally. I wish it for each of us.
Take “vacation moments” as needed breaks, daily!
