06/20/2019
It’s a complicated and demanding life that we lead. I remember how hard it was to juggle young children, a full time job and all the rest, when I was a single mom. It was challenging then, and now women are working more and sleeping less? I can’t imagine that that’s a recipe for a long and healthy life, unless that lifestyle and those choices are congruent with a person’s intrinsic values. I don’t mean the values we adopted, or what we were told, by religion, family, tv, teachers, advertisers, friends, social media....
I think it’s important to take some time to peel away the influences of a lifetime and see what’s underneath. What’s truly, intrinsically important to each individual?
Here’s an interesting journaling activity:
1. Brainstorm all the different people, groups or ways you may have been influenced over your life.
2. Write down your values. What’s important to you? What are your priorities?
3. Compare your lists and ask yourself “where did each belief come from?” “Where did I hear that? How did I learn that or come to believe that?
4. Cross off all the values, beliefs and priorities that came from a source outside yourself.
5. What’s left over? Do those beliefs come from your heart?
That’s your true self.
The next trick is to arrange your life, so your time and actions reflect and support your true self. When we can do that we’re living a congruent life and living in integrity. That’s a recipe for “success”, and that’s a lesson for another day. 😉
Working women put in longer hours on the job last year, spent more time caring for their children and did more work around the house. They also spent less time relaxing or socializing—and less time sleeping, according to the annual American Time Use Survey.
