Opening your heart helps in so many ways…
Opening your heart has a positive impact in so many ways. But did you know that it actually helps you find more time?
Being organized and efficient is important. But, as I am sure you know, it takes a lot more than to-do lists to accomplish what you need to in the time that you have.
For example, when you run into roadblocks, or when something unexpected throws you off-track, you need to marshal enormous resourcefulness and resilience to get yourself through. And while resourcefulness and resilience require agility, flexibility, and creativity, these qualities may not be part of your knee-jerk response when your plans are threatened. Indeed, your instincts may tempt you to entrench yourself in rigid patterns. Unfortunately, what this usually accomplishes is to create a vicious cycle will probably set you back further and further.
Opening your heart…
So, I’d like you to consider a different approach: Opening your heart to compassion in those moments when your first, instinctive response is to clench. Take a deep breath and visualize your heart opening. You’ll feel something change, as compassion frees your potential to step away from this frozen cycle and let your energy and creativity flow.
The more you cultivate compassion, the more easily you will thrive in the face of change. Opening your heart helps you build flexibility, courage, and creativity no matter what is happening in your everyday life. Given the unending stream of challenges that comprise the weave of our days, nurturing your power of compassion can provide sustaining strength in all seasons.
Here are some examples:
Compassion helps you step into reasonable risks.
When you accept that you are human, you know that you can learn from every experience. You needn’t fear that you will “turn on yourself” if you take a risk and it doesn’t pan out. Your compassion and healthy humility open you to the lessons to be learned. And you might even discover nuggets of unexpected wisdom as you bounce back and put your lessons to use.
Opening your heart helps you use mistakes to develop better systems.
Compassion isn’t a way to “let yourself off the hook”. On the contrary, it’s a way to take more responsibility for your actions. Being compassionate with yourself when you make mistakes, means that you will “recover” sooner and be able to make improvements and move forward. Rather than letting you off the hook, it enables you to be productive and effective no matter what.
Compassion supports you as you balance your priorities and your needs.
Accepting that life can be challenging and that you are responsible for taking care of yourself helps keep you grounded in reality. Knowing your limits will help you pace yourself. You won’t feel attracted to unrealistic, grandiose goals, because you are comfortable with your essential self. Compassion helps you maintain clarity, balance and perspective with more ease.
Opening your heart and shining the light of compassion on yourself it has a ripple effect. You’ll find that you are, by extension, safeguarding your health, enhancing your relationships and opening new vistas as you move more freely in the world. From this position of benevolence towards yourself and others, you are empowered, in each moment, to make better use of your time.
So how will you start using your compassion to create your next step toward finding more time today?
Here’s more help:
Do you ever feel like you’re running on empty and there are no gas stations anywhere to be found? That’s what it’s like when you aren’t taking care of yourself.
It’s an awful feeling, and one that’s all too familiar for many of us. In fact, if I had to guess, I’d say that finding time for self-care is one of the biggest challenges going. And I’ve created an E-Guide that addresses this challenge and offers you a path to creating your own, rejuvenating self-care routines and rituals. It’s titled “Self-Criticism or Self-Care? How Your Choices Define You, Your Time, and Your Life.”
This E-Guide gets right down to business as it offers questions, insights and exercises aimed at helping you come to a deeper understanding of:
- What gets in your way when it comes to taking care of yourself.
- How your capacity for compassion is connected to self-care.
- The activities that are most nurturing for you, and how to include them in your schedule, EVERY day.
To begin your self-care journey and claim your copy of “Self-Criticism or Self-Care? How Your Choices Define You, Your Time, and Your Life” click below:
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