{"id":9407,"date":"2021-12-22T08:04:02","date_gmt":"2021-12-22T14:04:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/?p=9407"},"modified":"2021-12-22T08:04:05","modified_gmt":"2021-12-22T14:04:05","slug":"bold-holiday-advice-your-worthy-self-needs-to-hear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/2021\/12\/22\/bold-holiday-advice-your-worthy-self-needs-to-hear\/","title":{"rendered":"Bold Holiday Advice Your Worthy Self Needs to Hear"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Before I shut things down for a holiday break, I really wanted to be farther along in a massive work project that\u2019s taken over our ping pong table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had an air-tight completion plan in place and then social media imposters happened and medication issues happened and \u2018I\u2019d rather reorganize the closet\u2019 happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, now I have a problem. The deal in my mind was:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you get XYZ done, then you can [insert enjoyable activities here].<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This approach of FIRST productivity, THEN activities has had its benefits throughout my life. I mean, I can get things done like nobody\u2019s business\u2026 BUT there\u2019s a cost to this approach\u2014and the cost of delaying life until the \u201ctasks\u201d are complete can be downright tragic. I could tell you the damaging consequences of prioritizing TASKS<\/strong> over PEOPLE<\/strong>, but I bet you probably already know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we put off human connection for\u00a0
just a minute<\/em>
maybe tomorrow\u00a0<\/em>
when I get this done\u2026<\/em>
the experience often never happens\u2026 the memories aren\u2019t made\u2026 the joy never shows up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know this. And I know with every fiber in my body that I do not want to miss meaningful life experiences thinking I must be in a certain place before I get to experience joy, ease, nourishment. So, while staring at that sad ping pong table, I chose to help myself by sharing my feelings with a trusted friend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m not where I wanted to be for holiday break\u2026 I\u2019m a bazillion chapters behind\u2026 I\u2019m going to have a monumental obstacle to climb in January\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And you know what my friend had the audacity to say?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the calmest, most sensible manner, she said, \u201cTime will pass either way. The project will get done either way. Honor yourself by living your message in real time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And knowing the healing journey I\u2019m on to separate my self-worth from accomplishments, my friend went straight to the most tender place in my heart, ensuring I HEARD what I needed to HEAR. She put real, actual names of real, actual beloved humans into a powerful directive to me:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEnjoy Natalie and Avery. Enjoy Scott. Enjoy your PJs and your couch. Enjoy Banjo and Paisley. Enjoy opening holiday cards. Enjoy looking at lights. Enjoy your mom and dad. Enjoy Becca and Chris and Stacie and Kate and the boys. Enjoy the trees and the birdsong. Enjoy fresh fruit and chocolate and birthday cake. Enjoy a short walk or a long walk and a good time on a swing. Enjoy picking a charity to give to. Enjoy talking with Kerry and Carrie and your other friends too. Enjoy your life.\u201d<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Dear ones, I share this just case you\u2019re not where you were hoping to be (literally or figuratively) and think you can\u2019t have fun or rest or play or eat or [insert enjoyable activity here] until you get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You may have lived by that rule your whole life, and you may have received love, approval, and shiny gold stars for it, but let\u2019s talk truth. Life doesn\u2019t have to be lived as it was before.<\/strong> And now that you know you\u2019re worthy, whether\u00a0you \u201cdo the things\u201d or not, you can live accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you need extra reinforcement, take that unfinished list or that bar you haven't reached and hold it next to the fragility of life. The truth suddenly becomes pretty clear, doesn\u2019t it?\u00a0Today is all we really have for sure.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And those people, whose names are written on your heart, they like to see you <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smacking that ping pong ball\u00a0
Eating that chocolate fudge\u00a0
Cuddling the pets\u00a0
Reading the books
Making the tiny snowmen\u00a0
Forgoing the ribbon and wrapping paper and stuffing it in a gift bag and calling it a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because those beloved people know the tasks of our productivity-obsessed world never actually get finished\u2026. but the chance to love and be loved is here RIGHT NOW. Let\u2019s seize it while we can.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dear ones, thank you for supporting my work and my heart throughout 2021. Because you showed up for my books<\/a>, online courses<\/a>, and retreats, an original audio series and book inspired by my transformative Soul Shift workshop will be published by Sounds True<\/a>. Upon publication, my program will be featured among prominent teachers and visionaries in the fields of psychology, health, and healing. The audio program releases in June 2022 and my fifth book (which is in process on the ping pong table) publishes in 2023.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please save the date for my 2022 weekend retreats taking place at Omega Institute<\/a> in NY (Sept 9-11) and at Art of Living Retreat Center<\/a> in NC (Nov 4-6). More information coming soon.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until then, please have a safe, restorative, and joy-filled holiday. I appreciate you so much. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My hand in yours. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before I shut things down for a holiday break, I really wanted to be farther along in a massive work project that\u2019s taken over our ping pong table. I had an air-tight completion plan in place and then social media imposters happened and medication issues happened and \u2018I\u2019d rather reorganize the closet\u2019 happened. So, now […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":9408,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1826,1766,1767,1747,1760,1816,1736,1737,1781],"tags":[],"gutentor_comment":0,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/IMG_7537-scaled.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1fUJF-2rJ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9407"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}