It’s a simple but powerful question: Is this life-giving?
Every now and again when I feel like life is swirling too fast around and ahead of me, and I am beyond my emotional and physical means of keeping up, I make myself step back to create space for reflection and editing. These are some of the questions I use to gauge whether or not I am doing what’s best for me right now when feeling overwhelmed or weary in general, maybe you too could use them too?
- Does it give me life or does it leave me feeling depleted?
- Does it give me life or does it make me narrow-minded?
- Does it give me life or does it make me short-tempered?
- Does it give me life or does it make me compare?
- Does it give me life or does it or does it disrespect my time or energy?
I wonder, if we were more honest with ourselves, what we would simply let go of in our lives if we knew it would give us more energy, more compassion, more patience, and more self-respect? How do you go about this kind of reflection?
Let me ask this: What drains you but you keep returning to it? This is a hard one. It’s that mirror we don’t want to look in.
I ask myself this question quite often. Why do we do this to ourselves, I wonder? I also wonder what things I would delete, edit, or simply move on from if we recognized that they were no longer in our best interest? I wonder what would happen for you, for me, if we took the sacred time to evaluate our choices, to peer into them candidly to see and feel if they are holding us back from living a life we desire for ourselves, or if they are giving us life? I don’t think it has to be a new year or any sort of threshold to consider such things. I think it’s healthy to keep going back to the drawing board as we change, as life changes, and as we grow. I find myself in that place now and it’s exciting!
Kind of deep, but food for thought. Also, you should grab yourself a bundle of hyacinths right now. They are in season and smell delicious!
Carli - LOVE this. Sticky stuff to work through for sure, but so rewarding when we do. A good reminder for me on this Tuesday. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts Amanda. This right here, it’s the kind of stuff we should be doing often to ensure we are curating our most purposeful and joy-filled life.
finja - “What drains you but you keep returning to it?”
–> Such a great question to ask!!! Will need to think about it….
xx finja | http://www.effcaa.com
Meagan - I love this, Amanda, especially the part where you said we need to do this over and over again as we change and our lives change. I’ve found myself doing this very thing… often, it seems, and although it can be frustrating when I feel like I’m constantly re-evaluating life and priorities, it’s also exciting knowing that this process will clear my life of the things that are “excess” and make room for what’s really of value to me. Thanks for sharing what’s on your heart!
Julie - I love this post. Certainly questions to think about. xo
sheila - I love your series of questions and will definitely embrace them onward! The rhythm and format makes it a do-able approach.
I ask myself, when contemplating an action, will this lead me on the path of sweetness??
I’m very appreciative of your blog. Thank you! Sheila
https://mojaveinmyheart.com
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