Tag: values

Doing Something Just for Me

For me, this week was all about doing something just for me. It started with my first Airbnb experience and ended with my first attempt at clarity cards. In between I listened to my intuition and discovered some truths about myself.

Unique Mountain Farm

Solitude, comfort, amenities; it’s all right here just outside Hendersonville, North Carolina at the Unique Mountain Farm.

As I was planning my trip, I knew exactly what I wanted to do each day. In contrast, after I arrived at my destination, my relaxation allowed the days to flow more naturally, surrendering to a calmer frame of mind.

Listen to Your Intuition

I checked the weather and found my first full day was the sunniest. As I arrived on Monday afternoon, Waze, my favorite mapping app, sent me down winding roads, right past the Carl Sandburg Home National Park Service Historic Site. I knew a visit was meant to be.

It is necessary now and then for a man to go away by himself and experience loneliness; to sit on a rock in gathering forest and to ask of himself, “Who am I, and where have I been, and where am I going?” – Carl Sandburg

This quote sums up what my heart told me I needed when I planned my getaway. So much emotion and stress had lain heavy on my shoulders the past nine months. Consequently, while walking the grounds of Carl Sandburg’s home, I suddenly burst into tears, multiple times.

Conversely, I also had several lively conversations with dogs and their owners. One of those conversations ended with this confession from one owner.

“You just made my day.”

With my emotions now stabilized, I felt only joy. As I turned to continue down the hill, this scene lay before me.

It’s Worthwhile to Go the Extra Mile

My lifelong friend, Pat, lives in Western North Carolina, three hours from my stay near Hendersonville. Certainly that is much closer than the nine hours from my Florida home. Last week, I called Pat up and we arranged my visit for the middle of my retreat.

Once again, my intuition was spot on. Our short time together helped me see who I am and where I am going. It was the perfect segue for my final day in North Carolina.

It’s All About Clarity

Time for the hard work came on my rainy last day. I began Dan Blank’s Clarity Cards process. This was the primary reason for my alone time, to gain clarity.

At first, the cards looked more like a list of things I do, rather than what I want to create. Slowly, a theme emerged.

Becoming an integrative nutrition health coach is the framework that will allow me to help others change their lives. Each time I interacted directly with people this week, whether strangers or dear friends, I felt more alive, more connected to the positive energy all around me.

Above all, helping others amplified because I am doing something just for me.

A Harvest of Ideas

As we conclude the first official week of autumn, I extend my wish for your own harvest of ideas gleaned from doing something special just for you.

Warmly,
Dawn

Three Tips for Finding Value in Yourself

These three tips for finding value in yourself need repeating. Furthermore, no matter how much we grow as individuals, finding our self-worth will elude us at times.

Are You Devaluing Yourself?

Sometimes it’s easier to consider the opposite of a positive characteristic, because it is more familiar to us.

Maybe these are some ways we show a lack of value in ourselves.

  1. Saying ‘Yes’, when we mean ‘No’
  2. Difficulty asking for help
  3. Placing higher value on other people, pets, or things

How to Start Valuing Yourself

Here are three small steps to help you change your behavior. Does one speak to you more than the others? Start there. Then add a second step the next week or sooner if you feel ready. Above all, be kind to yourself.

  1. Start writing Morning Pages
  2. Look at a situation from a different point of view
  3. Do something special just for you

Delving Deeper

Point of view has several meanings. Consequently, I want to make it clear I’m using this definition:

  • the position from which something or someone is observed

In life, we tend to use the same point of view all the time. Most noteworthy, our direct observance is clouded by all the thoughts in our mind drawn from a lifetime of judgement and beliefs.

An Exercise in Point of View

Imagine this scene. A man is walking down a sidewalk with a hedge of plants to his left, listening to music on his iPod. Suddenly, a masked man steps out of the bushes behind him with a shovel in his right hand. He hits the man on the back of the head with the shovel. The man falls to the ground, bleeding from the back of his head.

Chances are, in your default point of view, you placed yourself across the street and observed this attack in horror.

In contrast, let’s try using a different point of view. Pretend there are two birds perched twenty feet up in a tree just on the other side of the hedge. I’ll name them Heckle and Jeckle. Perhaps they observe the same scene this way.

“That man is walking with white strings coming out the sides of his head.”

“Now a second man comes out of the bushes behind him, with a black covering over his face. He holds a big twig with a shiny flat part on the end.”

“The second man moved the shiny part and came in contact with the back of the first man’s head, who falls on the ground.”

“There is red liquid coming out of the man on the ground.”

Different Points of View

This point of view from Heckle and Jeckle is detached, without judgement, a bird’s-eye view observation. Two more possible points of view are the characters in the scene; the man with the iPod, the masked man. And don’t forget the “just the facts” view.

By looking at this fictional scene in different ways, you are practicing changing your point of view.

Do you want to take it one step further? Use different points of view to dissect a scenario from your own life. Extra points if you have strong feelings about this personal circumstance.

Final Thoughts

Don’t forget the third way to start valuing yourself – doing something special, just for you.

Are you doing something special, just for you today? Take a moment to brainstorm one thing you can do for yourself this weekend.

I’d enjoy readIng your ideas in the comments.

Sending love from my heart to yours,
Dawn