Madonna sang “Express Yourself” (still one of my all-time favs) and today I’m remixing it to Accept Yourself.
I do my best work in the morning. I’m undeniably a morning person and I’ve allowed myself to create this detrimental thought pattern that I can’t write well, don’t communicate at my best and won’t perform at my highest potential later in the day. When you get up as early as I do, later in the day is comparatively early for most people. So I find myself at a challenge, right at this very moment. I’m sitting here, at the keyboard, at 7:08pm. I’ve convinced myself over the course of decades that I can’t write this late. It’s clear to me that I am more focused in the morning hours, so I accept that about myself—truly I celebrate that. This morning, then afternoon, then (my version) of early evening flowed by with lots of productivity in other arenas, but the blog still isn’t written and the emails aren’t answered.
And then the brain starts going: You can’t write at night. You won’t produce with quality. It will take you 10 times longer to answer emails. And don’t forget about that pile about day-job work on the table…
I can play out those limiting beliefs or I can choose a new pattern, choose to “unstick” myself from thoughts that are holding me back from tasks that need to be done (those Rescue emails aren’t going to answer themselves!). Instead of walking circles around the house, stumbling through smaller tasks while the mind swirls around the writing, I chose to accept myself, wrench open the laptop and write to you. And I will answer the unread emails as soon as I’m done here. And I’ll try not to beat myself up if I have to stay up past 8pm or if I leave a task undone tonight.
I took a class Friday evening on the Aroma Freedom Technique (I totally did not anticipate writing to you about this! I sat down intending to write about this week’s 2 rescues!). My mentor Gina Califano taught about the technique and guided attendees through this powerful practice. In her introduction, during which I took copious notes, Gina talked about overcoming our resistance. She talked about how experiences create our beliefs; our beliefs create our behaviors; our behaviors create our experiences. There’s the cyclical nature of it all. The Aroma Freedom Technique is designed to get us “unstuck,” to facilitate release, to help us reach new heights. I had such an incredible response personally to the technique that I’ve chosen to seek certification in Aroma Freedom so I can share it with you and your fur-babies too.
And here I am, two nights later, needing to release the limiting belief about when and how I can accomplish tasks. I accept myself as a morning person and producer but it’s time for me to embrace other moments of me, not just the top-speed, ultra-effective version. Gina said, “Once you’re aware of it, you can start to move it out.” It’s time for me to breathe, to loosen up the rigidity I enforce on myself, and to keeping hopping my hop toward my highest potential with grace. Much Love.
