The short summary
There’s no need for more additional stress, drama or despair. And certainly not for more self-doubt and nitpicking. We have everything we need within us and that there is no reason to run away. And there are many reasons to be happy with what we have. And yes, that also applies to you!
Introduction
Remember the catapult metaphor from last time? You need to rest and can’t be shooting around all the time. Let’s talk about how we can experience smaller catapult moments that are safe, calm and better suited for sustainable progress and growth!
Here’s the basic idea
We don’t tighten the catapult any more or put on another protective suit so we can keep working under pressure and extreme acceleration. What about the following idea:
You could make yourself lighter in the here and now – so when it is time to catapult yourself away, you still fly a bit further. But because you’re lighter, more flexible and skilled, you are able to do one of these cool cinematic, totally smooth acrobatic roll-off movements on the still normal, hard ground (which is life).
And thereby not crash.
But land softly.
Sounds awesome, right? Let’s do this!
You are good the way you are
There is a lot about you – right now – that is loveable, endearing, worth building upon. But because we’re often too stressed and driven to be even close to realise and acknowledge that, we first need to take a break and stop.
Because otherwise we’ll go back to the catapult and blindly shoot ourselves into the void. Again. We don’t want that. What we want and need is a little bit of rest and the feeling that it’s okay to be ourselves.
Striving to get somewhere is dangerous
It is so easy to get caught up in the (sudden) pursuit of wanting to learn, change or adapt for the better. We then blindly dive into things and forget that not everything in our lives is lost or hopeless. But there is so much we can build on.
Unfortunately we naturally tend to focus on the negative and ignore the positive. It’s hard to avoid it, and we will be challenged by that negative bias again and again. Will that ever change?
Probably not. We “simply” need time, practice, setbacks, breakthroughs, detours as well as moments of support and recovery to experience and trust that we’re more than okay right now and finally start to be amazed by ourselves.
We might need to
- lack the knowledge and feeling that we’re good the way we are,
- then find it and understand it,
- lose it, only to rediscover it again from a new perspective,
- until someday having establishing a proper foundation that we actively believe in,
- so we can live it, embody it and pass it on to others.
But you already know that
If you’re scared and intimidated about the work and the commitment that is necessary to get there, don’t worry now, because we’ll cover all that at another time and take away these worries too. Today, we don’t march on, we rest.
So we can set the expectation right and become aware of our resources and our innate talents, skills and loveable sides. So we don’t burn out. So we neither get bored nor frustrated but stay aware that even in the midst of chaos, hurt and suffering, everything is fine with you and you can be proud of yourself.
No matter what’s going on right now.
Taking good care of yourself with the little things in life
Allow me to start with myself. Although I have the feeling of writing more, I feel that I am actually getting hungry and tired. A gentle nap would be nice. I’m pro napping, just in case I have never actually brought it up to this point.
There is always another time to write, to come up with new ideas or appropriate additional remarks.
Why is this so important? I don’t want to overdo it or push myself out of this happy, easy-going zone of loving what I do that I’m currently in. Otherwise, it’s just a matter of time until the combination of tiredness, hunger and the still bubbling but soon dried up source of cool ideas makes me insufferable and miserable.
I know, I know, in my case this sounds so logical and easy
Yet how often have I ignored all the obvious, screaming signals to take a break and let things be? How many times did I keep pushing? And I’m not exclusively talking about this blog. If I can’t do it on a small scale, how can I expect myself to overcome bigger challenges?
What about you now? Which of the following two options would you like to explore?
Opportunity #1 for you: In need of a little impulse?
When you are trying to feel inside yourself right now:
- What do you need to remind yourself that you’re more than okay?
- How can you allow yourself to rest?
- To not do anything at all and just let the mind wander?
- What stands in between yourself and the acceptance that you’re good the way you are? What arguments, thoughts or doubts come up?
- Give yourself a little bit of time and space to see what comes up when you ask yourself the question: Am I aware that it’s good the way I am? What do I appreciate about myself?
Opportunity #2 for you: Fancy an exercise?
In case you’d like to continue the first opportunity or you are ready to explore this topic in a little more depth, I’d like to recommend two previous blog articles that I published. In both you’ll find pen and paper exercises as well as a loving kindness meditation that help you to see yourself from a kinder and lighter perspective.
Go ahead and treat yourself!