While the new year signifies a fresh start and time of rebirth for us all, this year feels particularly impactful for me. This time a year ago, I was too overwhelmed with and hopeless about my job situation to have the introspection for real, intentional resolutions. But with the whirlwind that’s been these past 12 months of my life, my outlook this time around is significantly different.
While I didn’t deliberately set a word to outline my 2019, looking back, I can easily say that it was GO. I finally realized that life’s too short to spend each day slugging through a meaningless job and putting my creative passions on the back burner. So, I went for it. I mustered up the courage to quit my job, return to school for my MBA, earn my CorePower Yoga teaching certification and start this blog from scratch.
And I’m proud. Proud that I took the difficult route and really went for it. But, true to my desire to do everything 100%, I perhaps was too go, go, go this past year.
While, yes, I did achieve a lot and enjoy every moment I get to work on activities I find fulfilling and challenging in the best ways, I’ve begun to feel a little burnt out over these past few months. Trying to do it all and saying yes to every opportunity that comes my way without allowing time to recharge finally caught up with me. By my own doing, I have a lot on my plate, most of which is exciting and life affirming, but that’s not to say it can’t also wear me down when I never take time to breathe.
Returning home to Kansas City for a few weeks over my winter break from school, I felt exhausted but couldn’t quite work through the compulsion to work and make “progress” 24/7. I knew I wasn’t living the balanced, mindful life that I continue to preach on this blog and to those who following me.
While in town, I was lucky enough to slip in a few acupuncture and SourcePoint Therapy appointments, where both practitioners explained that they felt I had a major energetic imbalance. Honestly, I wasn’t surprised, as I knew my lack of rest, dwindling inspiration, building anxiety and inability to “turn it off” was eating at me on every level.
Luckily, the realignment provided by acupuncture and SourcePoint along with the time I was blessed with at home were exactly what the doctor ordered. Home for me is always incredibly grounding, as it always seems to leave me with a renewed outlook and recharged energy when I return back into my life here in Austin.
After the burnout and anxiety I’ve felt increasing over the past few months, it took me those weeks at home to realize why exactly I felt exhausted, lacked passion and constantly worried that my efforts weren’t “enough”. This time away reawakened me to my WHY and showed me the importance of not going constantly in order to really show up with purpose when it matters.
SO, perhaps this is a longwinded explanation of why grounded spoke to me when choosing the word I want to guide me through the coming year. I struggle with getting caught up in the noise and messiness of life that’s filled with to-do lists, challenges and unknown futures. Yet, rather than allowing such stressors to critically throw me out of alignment, I’m choosing to remain grounded, centered and as zen as possible moving forward.
And crucial to this is incorporating more REST into my life, which is something I majorly overlook, as I tend to view time away from work as wasted. Though my productivity-driven and hardworking personality has indeed proven successful in myriad ways over the years, ignoring my body, mind and spirit’s need to slow down is nothing but detrimental.
In order to stay grounded, I’m committing to allowing myself time to breathe, recenter and have some fun away from school, work and other obligations. My last few weeks spent at home helped me better understand that rest in itself actually is productive, as it allows me to recuperate and feel more energized when I do need to get up and go, go, go. Rather than measure my worth on my level of productivity, I’m working to view what I was able to get done each day as enough for now.
Overall, in 2020, I aim to bring that centered feeling that home provides me into my daily life and truly prioritize what I find grounding. And if you’re interested in how getting grounded influenced my other intentions for the year, check out my Instagram post!
With this chosen word in mind, I’ll continue to create content and provide value on this blog and beyond that’s purposeful and in-line with how I myself am actually living with intention .
For anyone interested in learning more about how SourcePoint Therapy has truly changed my life, check out my blog series on the topic here! And I likewise dig into the details and benefits of acupuncture on the blog as well.
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