Battling the "Mis"es: Misperception and Misconception
I've generally been a go-getter: up at 6am....go-go-go till the later hours. This week, however, I have been so sluggish. I haven't been able to bring myself to do more than one or two tasks at once and when I do, I find I need a nap after about 4 hours. This is rare for me and I have to admit, I was rather disgusted with myself for lack of motivation. I took a walk on Monday and went grocery shopping and that was enough to put me out for hours. LOL
I have all these preconceived notions about myself: "Mandy works out 3-4 times a week." "Mandy performs 3 different lab experiments at one time." "Mandy is the social coordinator in her group of friends." "Mandy can vacuum her home while watching TV and mentally writing articles." Yes, this is the person I was...and perhaps I'll get there...but for now, I find myself needing to hit the "reset" button many times over to complete the most mundane tasks. Rather than feeling frustrated, I have decided to embrace it for what IT IS: A time to recharge, rejuvenate and rest. The body and mind need rest, so I'll take it. This can't go on forever.
I have an energy advisor that told me to "Take it easy and do the little things", so this is what I've been doing. I needed to do four things yesterday and when I thought about them, I nearly had a meltdown. I calmed down when I put it into perspective: "If I only accomplish task A for the day, I would still have Thursday to get to task B." Phew! What a load off. I successfully complete all tasks and here I am on Thursday, feeling a lot lighter.
I notice many people with these monster lists of what needs to be done for the week. I used to make a list like that at my research job. It felt good to accomplish it but at the beginning of the week, it just left me overwhelmed. When I didn't get it all done, even due to circumstances outside my control, I allowed myself to feel like a failure. Now, I've started to write down the most important task of the day and just do that. If I accomplish it, then I write the next task. The hardest part is keeping my mind from jogging forward. I thought I had battled that dragon, but like all things in life, we will be tested for our growth.
I've rehashed a lesson this week in not getting caught up in the "woulda, shoulda" and staying grounded in the present. When taking a step back from my situation, it was so easy to see that I let fears and misperceptions steer me into a whirlwind of crazy. Now that I know, it's been easy to pull myself into the present and tell the future that I'll get there when I get there. There is no rush.
Here's some advice for when you find you have lost control of yourself in a situation and you need to reboot into reality:
*Ask yourself what you can do to feel calmer and more grounded. Take
some deep breaths, take a walk, get away--even if it just to the
restroom at your place of employment.
*Get clear about your situation in the present: Who are you? What is true about you in the moment? What do you feel and what is not true about your perceptions?
*What do you desire for the situation for yourself? Imagine it, feel it and affirm that you WILL indeed have it. Nothing is worth disturbing your inner peace. Tell yourself this as many times as it takes to believe it.
*Forget other people because we can't affect them. We can only control ourselves and our perceptions. Focus solely on yourself in this moment.
*Go back into the "junlge" with confidence. If you need any protection, simply ask for assistance or imagine/feel a metallic bubble or armor around you.
It's so easy to allow our perceptions to pull us into a false reality. Putting everything into perspective is a majority of the battle. Give yourself a pat on the back each time you choose to get clear about what is true about the present situation. It might seem small, but in the grand scheme of it all, it's a HUGE accomplishment.