Does someone ever say anything to you that is so impactful, that you will never forget where you were, what you were wearing, and what you were doing all in that moment? Maybe some details of a particular situation may seem irrelevant and forgettable, but a few days, weeks, or years down the road, sequences of events happen that make everything fall into it’s perfect place - suddenly many pieces of your life make sense. Have you ever had one of these experiences?
I feel like my life has been full of them. Not all good… some have definitely been more difficult. Nonetheless, the impact they have had on my life has changed me for the better. What brought me and these words here is a single sentence spoken indirectly to me that seemed to put a bow on my mental health and self-awareness, in a really good way.
Thinking back to my childhood and teenage years, it was pretty clear I always had everyone else on my mind. The constant worry of making sure everyone was involved, cared about, or thought of consumed by life. I kept my circle too big and tried hard to stay connected with everyone. It was bittersweet. This allowed me to build a special community in my life that I have never taken for granted. Thankfully, I still do get to keep in touch with many of those people and I have gained friends for life. However, being an extremely disclosed introvert with social pressures to be that always involved girl, I was truly turning inside out. Into college, few things changed. I found some top tier friends (once again, so thankful) but it didn’t change the fact that sometimes I still had this overwhelming anxiety to take care of everyone else around me. Fast forward, I discovered a new kind of stress called beer sales that comes with building friendships with plenty of people (still thankful).
Then, sprinkle some COVID-19 shutdown on all this. What a twist in my life - like yours also, I can only imagine. I had a reset button I didn’t ask for. This unfortunate halt in the social activity allowed me to refocus and look at my health in a new way. For the first time since I can remember, I was able to truly worry about myself in that unique moment. Let me note, while staying in touch with what feels like hundreds of people on a weekly basis is draining, it is equally as rewarding - it’s just that in the midst of it all, I was easily forgetting about myself.
Since being back at work, I can’t explain how balanced my life feels. My stress has leveled, I am more eager to be at work and workout, I feel motivated. Hell, I started a blog. I feel like I have taken time to worry about myself and things that matter to me. For a long while, my glass had felt half-empty, when truthfully it’s been half-full. I just needed the time I never had to think that myself.
Now since we have forgotten, here is the single sentence that I was told in my Monday 6:15 PM class: “Sometimes we need to stop focusing on if everyone else’s glasses are half-full, because we need to make sure our own glasses are half-full.” I listened to my yoga instructor say this as I sat on my yoga mat in my post-work makeup, running late from work to make it to the gym, to the class I didn’t want to go to. I am so glad I went because the security I felt in this moment was worth it. Maybe I was the only person who really heard this statement, but in that moment, it completely validated my life and new energy.
This is a reminder that you should never feel guilty or be hesitant to take care of yourself sometimes, too.
Example: me sipping on my half-FULL drink in my happy place!