Day 274/366 days Towards Self-Mastery.
It seems a lifetime ago that burnout was my constant companion. The smouldering type of burnout that is just under the surface, that the slightest provocation would send into a roaring flame. That just keeping up with things, just managing to stay ahead of the game, just meeting that deadline with nothing to spare, praying for time to stand still for just 3 more minutes to get that proposal away.
Sarah reminds us that a smouldering flame can be just as deadly as a flash fire, and she's right. That smouldering flame did enormous amounts of damage in my body, depressing my immune system, damaging my lungs, burning out my pancreas.
If you are living a lifestyle that supports burnout you are on the wrong path. There is no other way to tell you how important it is to preserve your emotional, mental and physical health.
As we now enter our 8th month of the Covid-19 pandemic, you must realise that life has to change. With 8 months behind you, have you reconsidered what's important in life? Is it your big home and your many consumer items, your annual holidays and your drawers full of make-up and perfumes, and designer clothes?
It's fascinating to me what is happening in the world right now. So many of the things we thought were important have fallen away. So much activity to produce and distribute them, and what we really want access to is our food and water, our friends and family.
With precious grace I awoke to this realisation some 20-25 years ago, enabling me to prepare for just such a time. For this I am very grateful.
At that time I cashed up, paid down debt, downsized my home and lifestyle and settled for less. In return I got much more. I've enjoyed 20 or more years worry free, debt free and living a life that suits me and works for me. And I am lucky enough to continue to create that world when everyone else's is crashing down around them.
If you go to bed exhausted every evening and wake up tired in the morning, if you struggle to make ends meet and no matter how hard you try there's always another bill or repair to be paid for, if you find yourself on a short wick ready to defend at a moments' notice, you're pushing yourself too hard.
You're not a machine. You will wear out. There won't be joy at the end of all that struggle, there will be ill health, disease that the very struggle that you are contending with is shoring up in your body along the way. You won't escape it unless you make the changes you need to make now, and begin the regenerative healing journey.
What do you really want? What's really important? At this moment we have one life and one planet. What are you doing with it?
366 days Towards Self-Mastery
When I considered my New Year's intentions for 2020 I had just one: To allow my heart to love what it loved...and let it lead me. (If not now, then when?)
I've spent months working on integrating my life. To live life more fully with my home life, my interests, my work, my responsibilities, all coming together, all connected. I want to give each the attention that they desire and need, and still have time and energy for the others. That means living and working from the heart.
As I was clearing out my bookshelf over the Christmas break I discovered Simple Abundance. I set it aside to explore it on New Year's Day as I lazed through another delicious day of nothingness. Sarah, the author, says this book is about living in grace. Living in grace I realised, is about Self-Mastery.
My thirst for understanding the human condition has driven me all my life, and hand-in-hand with self-mastery it has been a life-long goal. And seeing as I love to write, that living in grace is about self-mastery, and I love a bit of a challenge, then if I am truly going to let my heart lead, I really don't have any other choice. So scary as it feels, I'm starting out on a daily mission of leaning into the suggestions of this daybook and making a daily post to keep me accountable. If not now, then when?
I'm Josie. You can find out a little more about me here.
Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy: by Sarah Ban Breathnach.
This book is written for the Australian and NZ market because it refers to seasonal changes. It's available on Amazon here if you'd like to follow along.