This truth has been rocking my world this week. I didn’t realize the connection between letting go in a simple physical way – like opening my hand – is the same skill as letting go of stuff I don’t use – is the same skill as letting go of what other people think of me… or envy, or judgment. I’m not there yet, on those last three… but I know my life will be more content if I decide to grow my letting go muscle.
Where do I start? I sat down yesterday and wrote a whole brainstorm whiteboard full of ideas that were about letting go and self care. From that board I picked out 32 favorites. Then I decided to go after those things – one each day for every day of June. It’ll be 31 days (I picked my favorites) of self care and it’s all stuff that I know I can do. If you’d like to join in on the fun, then connect with me on Instagram @CarmenRoseShenk and we’ll go through this together. I will post a simple self care activity each day – and we can all take a few moments to do these simple things to make our lives more contented. We can all get better at taking care of ourselves – especially when things are busy and chaotic around us. And that’s when self care matters the most!
Here’s an example: I know I should do the whole thing of going to the gym, working my bum off, and getting in shape. See? There’s that little word “should” that gets me every time. Could+Shame=Should. No thanks!! I have a negative reaction to the word “exercise”. (I can’t believe I’m confessing this!) LOL! However, I love very physical activities like dancing and cleaning out a closet, and painting, and walking around the neighborhood with my dawg who loves to stop and smell everything! Funny, those are all examples of exercise, but don’t tell. Because I want to be a person who exercises… and I want to do yoga and be thin and willowy and yada yada, but I’m not. That COULD change. (See how I took the shame out by changing “should” to “could”?)
Letting go is just like that. I can start with small things – like getting rid of ugly silverware. We’ve got some beautiful silverware, and plenty of it. So why do I still have some ugly silverware in the house? So that’s me thinking of ways I can start small and let go of some easy things in order to get the hang of letting go of some bigger things. This is a skill I want to develop. A muscle I want to grow.
Someone got in my car this morning and her energy was pulsing with wrath. I had a pretty big reaction to someone showing up on my turf and immediately throwing a sarcastic accusation in my face. I WANTED to be kind in response. I was direct. I was forthright – and that is progress. In the face of so much anger, I did not keep my peace. Letting go makes space for the good stuff. Like peace. Peace is good stuff! I’ve got my peace back now, but man… what a morning!
Personal development is a thing. Let’s grow some skills together, shall we? Follow me on Instagram and let’s do some intentional self care for the 31 days of June, ok? It’ll be fun.
Stay Tuned.
Carmen Shenk 