Empowerment.Vitality.Evolution.
Each morning we are born again. -Buddha
Hey friends (and followers) lots going on in my life lately and NO TIME for social media or Blogging.
I’m still HERE. Growing, Learning, Working on self love and boundaries.
Been trading in social media time for writing letters to friends and family. Want to receive a handwritten note?
Drop me a line and send me your mailing address in messages or email.
Sending out love into the world!
I can be imperfect and confident at the same time.
I Am Affirmations App
As part of my “People Pleaser” recovery, my therapist has me reading: The Wizard of Oz and Other Narcissists by Eleanor D. Payson, M.S.W. I am only halfway through Chapter 2 and already my mind is blown. I learned to be a People Pleaser from the BEST: Narcissists. Now come on! I can’t be alone on this!
Now I really need to finish the book to get all the benefits. I can already tell you I feel less crazy about the need to distance from certain people and the amount of relief I have in trusting my “gut” instincts.
I am always a “Work in Progress” and at the same time – enough.
Angelic Westfall affirmation š
For those of us who are empathetic, soft-hearted, optimists about people; Narcissists are the life-suckers who zap our energy without giving anything back. If you feel tired after every interaction with someone and they never show up when you’re in need, chances are strong you’re dealing with a narcissistic person (degrees of illness vary).
As I have started cleansing my life of the worst habitual offenders and understanding my own needs better, I have begun to be not only consistent, but CONFIDENT in my choices of action and decisions to stand by those actions – come what may. Just saying this out loud (or typing it) gives me a sense of Personal Power. “I can choose.” and not feel guilty later.
Tune in as I continue my journey, and please share your experience, that our shared support can help us all.
Recovering People Pleasers… UNITE!!
Not gonna lie. 2021 really challenged my @fiveminutejournal attentiveness.
For the first time in three years I was not very good at doing my daily gratitude. I found myself trapped in a depression I couldnāt āGratitudeā Practice my way out of and everything I was in the pattern of doing for over 2 years came to a screeching halt.
I know what itās like to feel stuck in a dark, unrelenting place. I was so burnt out from work, world noise, and the everyday negativity that seemed to permeate everyone and everything around me that I couldnāt see a way outā¦not even a way through. I got stuck in the āquicksandā of my hopeless thinking and all my positive practices slipped away.
I finally admitted in October that I had hit bottom.
Here I have to say my therapist kept me from totally drowning. Weekly sessions, working on tiny āNoāsā was truly my first step.
I had lost all sense of boundaries. I was an empty shell trying to still get through increasing stress at work, failing to be there as the mother, wife, and friend that I so love being. All because I had stopped āfilling my cup.ā
Peeps, I cannot stress enough the importance of caring for yourself FIRST.
I continue to learn this lesson the āHard Way.ā
Please, if you take away anything from my experience, let it be this:
Keep these ALWAYS.
Then GROWTH is possible. And growth is necessary to our human experience. Growth keeps us moving forward. Keeps our minds elasticity and our body strong.
I pray that I never give up my desire and joy in learning new thing: skills, lessons, practices.
May 2022 bring you back to yourself, if you were lost; bring you positive energy, if you are feeling stuck; love, if you are feeling alone.
Blessingsā¤ļø
Work in Progressā¦
These are HARD! All the lessons Iāve been learning in 2021 are around self-care and healthy boundaries.
Glad to know Iām not alone ā¤ļø.
WHAT WILL 2022 BRING?
Flipping through favorite pictures on my phone and came across this.
I drew this. This beautiful zentangle piece came from ME. The same me whoās been feeling like Iām failing at everything this week.
Just one of many reminders that just because Iām struggling right now, doesnāt mean itās forever.
I will be this version of me, actually, a BETTER version of ME again. AFTER I walk through this uncomfortable, sometimes painful, challenging time Iām in right now.
I will create beautiful things.
I will be happy.
I will be in a better place. Once I have learned the lessons needed to get through NOW.
Iām doing it! One step at a time. Sometimes I falter. Sometimes I backslide. Sometimes Iām completely successful and walk awayā¦ knowing I will be ok.
This lesson of āI am Enoughā is a hard one to learn when Iāve spent a lifetime pleasing others to gain acceptance and love.
Today, I do have unconditional love in my life from the people most important to me.
STILL, I havenāt completely put to rest those voices of my childhood that told me through repeated actions, inactions, verbal and nonverbal cues that I had to earn love, earn attention, earn worthiness.
If anyone feels this way now or has struggled with it in the past, my heart goes out to YOU.
YOU are Enough!
YOU are worthy of the life you want.
You are worthy of the love you want.
You are worthy of the career you want.
Whatever you can dream, you are enough for it!
We are always a āWork in Progressā and at the same time ENOUGH.
We are Enough to meet that challenge that scares us.
We are Enough to take that opportunity we secretly tell ourselves we donāt deserve.
We are Enough to be loved flaws and all.
We are Enough to walk away from relationships and situations that no longer serve us well.
As I type this, I say these things to myself: A reminder that I AM ENOUGH!
YOU ARE TOO ā¤ļø
Mundt Act was passed after World War 2 for legal propaganda against all other countries except the US. The US never stopped propagandized the public but the statute allowed us to hold them accountable.
The Patriot Act is unconstitutional, in 2012 right before Christmas, this Smith-Mundt Modernization Act was sneaked through a partial Congress with the National Defense Authorization Act. 2 weeks later Sandy Hook happened. This needs to be reauthorized every few years because it is so criminal.
Iām in Athens, Georgia for 2 weeks to help family. I love them and Iām happy to have a job that allows me to work from anywhere so I can be here to help when they need it.
Those who are in the Healthcare profession or are caregivers for loved ones know what this means. Itās an act of love, done gratefully and (hopefully) gracefully. It is also emotionally, mentally, and physically draining.
This is a reminder that itās time to take a BREAK, or as I call it a āTime Out.ā
Iāve been here a week and today I needed that ātime out.ā Luckily, the weather has started to turn for Autumn and the temperature/humidity has let up and cooled. So today, my time is being spent outside.
The Georgia Botanical Gardens has always been a favorite place for me, when I lived here and now when I visit.
As I sit by this beautiful water feature at the entrance to The Visitor Center, I feel my stress, sadness, anxiety and exhaustion melt awayā¦
I hope you take a āTime Outā if you need it. Remember: youāre no good to anyone if youāre not good to yourself ā¤ļø
Blessings.
Such simple instructions. I go even more pared down:
Stay in your own lane.
Why does human nature find it so hard to follow?
It seems on an individual level, less difficult; but add up to a group, society, or communityā¦now itās different. The almighty āWEā wants in your business and WE want to tell you what to do, what to think, how to do it and how to think.
Take a step back. Itās great to āThink Globallyā but we must ACT individually.
ACTIONS speak louder than WORDS
Do you really understand what that statement means? It means:
The caveat to this: Anotherās responsibility is not the same as yours. It wonāt look the same, think the same, act the same as yours.
Be ok with that. Stay in your own lane. Be the person who understands and takes to heart āPersonal Responsibilityā and you WILL make a difference. The kind of difference that changes the WORLD.
Blessings ā¤ļø
Empowerment.Vitality.Evolution. 