-
The (Wo)Man in the Arena.
In the opening of one of Brene Brown’s books, Daring Greatly, she references a quote by Theodore Roosevelt. I recently came across this quote again. It’s full of powerful words that I feel should really be taken to heart. “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;…
-
Disappointment.
The underlying theme for disappointment is unmet expectations. How true is that when you really think about it? When I’m disappointed in myself, I am usually left questioning, “What did I do wrong? How could I have done better?” When I’m disappointed in someone else, I’m usually left wondering, “If he would only…” 🙄 It’s harder for me to be disappointed in other people than it is to be disappointed in myself. At least when I haven’t met my own expectations, I can reflect to see if I laid my head and my heart on the line (logic and emotion). If I didn’t, I know to do better and can take steps toward improvement. Other people, well…it seems a lot of other people…
-
Transformation.
Do you ever go through periods of life where you feel God working within you? What this looks like may be different for each of us, but for me, I feel uneasy, restless, and emotional, yet hopeful, motivated, and inspired. I recognize these feelings when they appear and know that I am going through a transformational change. In most change models, we create a picture of what we think the solution should be, then work hard to make reality fit that picture. We try to dominate the situation. I have a friend who is super Type A, logical, and analytical. This would be his approach to change. You create a…
-
Burn-Out.
Did you know that burn-out is classified as an “occupational phenomenon” in the International Classification of Diseases by the World Health Organization (WHO)? It’s in a section describing factors that influence a person’s health without being an illness or injury. Burn-out refers specifically to phenomena in the occupational context and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life. It’s a syndrome (associated symptoms of opinions, emotions, and behavior) essentially brought to fruition from the unsuccessful management of chronic workplace stress. It is characterized by three dimensions: Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; Increased mental distance from one’s job or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; Reduced professional…
-
Intuition.
Did you know that there is a lot of chatter in the medical community about our gut being our second brain? So when you “go with your gut” or have a “gut feeling”, there really is something to say for that. Scientists call this second brain our enteric nervous system (ENS), and it is made up of more than 100 million nerve cells 😳 that line our gastrointestinal tract from our esophagus to our rectum. The ENS isn’t capable of thoughts as we know them coming from our brain, but it does communicate back and forth with our brain. Researchers and doctors thought that depression and anxiety contributed to the…
-
Impeccable.
In the Four Agreements, Don Miguel Ruiz defines impeccable as “without sin”. A sin is anything that you do which goes against yourself. Don Miguel Ruiz Who we are has been shaped by the morals, values, opinions, judgments, and fears of those around us. Most notably, our parents who have influenced our entire belief system since birth. How do we know who we really are when so much of who we are has been influenced by others? Their thoughts have become engrained in our minds as if they are our own. Personally, I think this is why emotional intelligence and self-awareness is critical to our function. Our bodies react to our emotions. When we pay…