Can you recall the last time you sprung out of bed ready to take on the day, so filled with anticipation and energy that you could hardly wait to get going?
I can remember feeling this way on those first few days of a new job or when I was taking on an exciting project at home or at work. But, in all honesty, it hasn’t been the most prominent feeling I have experienced.
It’s all too common that we can find ourselves in a completely different frame of mind – hitting the snooze button a few times, grasping after a couple of extra minutes of sleep. Maybe, because we really do feel tired and physically need it or maybe, because we just don’t want to face our day – our life.
That feeling sucks! I can remember mornings getting ready for work – standing in the shower – filled with anxiety – wishing I could just crawl back into bed. I recall driving to work on many occasions and realizing that I couldn’t take a deep breath – that I was actually sipping on air from the top of my lungs – the back of my throat. Constricted. Tight. Tense.
Just Getting Through the Day
When did I go from “I want to help people!” “I want to change the world!” to “Just let me get through the day?” I don’t know for sure, but I do know that the moment I really heard myself wishing to just get through the day was the moment I began to wake up. I realized that if I didn’t change course, I would find myself 50 years down the road – having just made it through the day – and ultimately, to the end of my life. No thanks!
Tools of the Trade Include Emotions
There is a high level of emotional labour in providing service to other people – and this is not a bad thing. It just means that to be present and engaged with other people requires our emotional involvement. It means that we come from a caring place – a loving place. This in itself does not create fatigue and it doesn’t have to feel like work – in fact, it isn’t work.
Simply put, our emotional nature is one of the tools of our trade, so to speak. So, just like we would rest our physical muscles following physical labour, it is important to care for our emotional beings as well.
How Self-Connection Helps
Developing and sustaining deep levels of self-connection (one element of The Conscious Service Approach) is one way that we can care for ourselves on every level including emotionally. The greater your sense of self-connection, the more in tune you will be to your needs on every level.
As you become more self-connected, you become more self-aware and the information that is available to you in this place is invaluable. When you are deeply self-connected, you will be better able to care for your needs, to hear your guidance, to make decisions that empower you. Heightened capacity for self-connection also leads to the enhanced ability to connect with others in meaningful ways.
As you know yourself more fully, you will know others more deeply.
Let’s get started!
What do you think about that idea of emotional labour?
How do you manage emotional involvement with others?
Sign up to our members’ area for immediate access to free resources!