Tag: balance

I am a total sucker for songs with visceral lyrics; particularly those that appeal to my vocational field of mental health. One of the songs I've been listening to on repeat, is called "You're Somebody Else" by: flora cash. I love the chorus:

Well, you look like yourself

But you're somebody else

Only it ain't on the surface

Well, you talk like yourself

No, I hear someone else though

Now you're making me nervous 

From what I can gather the song is a farewell ode to a close friend and/or lover. It's in the framework of the song that I find so much affin ...

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Becoming a 'Human Being' vs. a 'Human Doing'

When I was in college, I had a thoughtful professor who hated the 'b' word; as in 'busy.' He would say that too often people use the word 'busy' to describe how they have been and he didn’t understand why people felt the need to let others know that they had a ton going on. He also noted that the phrase 'being busy,' doesn’t actually describe how a person is feeling. I found this profound to think about. Why is it that some people feel the need to always be so busy and to let others know that they’re busy?

The way we choose to live our lives will shape who we become. Often that requires deep reflection of our habits and the kinds of relationships we are choosing to allow in our life. However, one of the greatest barriers to this deeper reflection is 'busyness.'

A lot of people recognized their addiction to busyness d ...

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We go into every day with a set capacity. When we think of that capacity, many of us view it as having 100% to give every day. If we can do that, we are successful. If we do that, we’ve done all we can. If we do that, we can count the day as a win.

Some of us don’t think that’s enough. Some of us think that in order to truly give everything that we have on a given day, we need to give 120%. That would mean that we’ve done enough to view the day as a success. The problem with this mindset is that we have set ourselves up to operate at a daily deficit. Every day we are giving 20% beyond what we have, and inevitably it catches up.

 

Now, here is the kicker. I think the idea that we have 100% to give is a myth. Everyday when we wake up there are things that already take  away from our capacity. Maybe I’m really overwhelmed at work and that takes 20% of my energy. Maybe I got in a fight with my partner ...

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