How do I pay attention to myself and my work?
From the April 25 Cafe we explored this question and the seeds we brought forward follow. If I don't feel good, no one will feel good around me. We need to truly make the commitment to ourselves and need to recognize our role as a "role Models" for the future. One attendee remarked: "My daughter sees me and how I react...she mimics my behavior...good and bad...I owe it to the future to be what I value and that means taking care of myself and aligning my actions to my values."
In essence we can "pay" ourselves first in order to "pay" others, have to look at that as a beginning, to develop and commit to it. Another participant added: "Then to stay committed I need to ask other women to support me in this commitment."
What are you grappling with as you try to pay attention to yourself and work?
Comments on this entry:
One of the things I've tuned into recently is to listen to myself by paying attention to the message and meaning behind the "bad feelings" and emotions that arise from situations in life. Some are strong emotions, like the maddening frustration I felt the day I asked my mother-in-law to come over and hold the bucket for my two vomitting kids because my office had flooded (for the 3rd time in one year) and I had to leave them to save my computer network from certain disaster. This frustration motivated my to finally negotiate out of my lease a year early and find a new office on higher ground. Some emotions are more subtle, and lead to less dramatic changes, but all contribute towards a happier life, like the tight feeling of my favorite jeans, signals a time to refocus on diet and exercise. (I'm not talking South Beach diet here, ladies, just a switch from a half-pint of Ben & Jerry's to a fat-free fudgicle.) So, the question is, can you set aside time each day to pay attention to what causes you undue stress and then reflect on what does not "feel right" about the situation. Once you identify that, can you determine what change you can make - today - that is in your control, that will move you towards a more comfortable or enjoyable situation?