NOvember
As the leaves fall from the trees and the days turn shorter and colder, I’ve felt a real resonance watching the squirrels in my yard do their annual Fall preparations. I watch them scurry about tirelessly plucking anything warm from the ground, packing their cheeks with all the food they can hold. They go up and down the tree gathering, nesting, preparing, with an urgency to get ready for winter.
I don’t know if it is the actual season, or the season of life I’m in, but I can really relate to those squirrels. I relate to the tireless effort and urgency… Only I don’t know what I’m preparing for.
This urgency is one that I demand of myself. It keeps me from the feeling of calm, peace and balance in my life that I crave.
So why do I put this pressure on myself?
Did you know we can actually become addicted to emotions? When I heard this on a podcast this week, I had to stop my relentless charge forward and take pause. Something about this really struck home for me.
Addictions are the things we continue to do, even though we know they aren’t good for us. There is actually a chemical reaction from emotions that our brains become addicted to.
Hello, my name is Jo and I am addicted to overwhelm! (And a few others, but that’s for another time.)
If life doesn’t provide enough “things” for me get my hit of overwhelm, I will go create them - join the next class, sign up for the next series of freebies, volunteer at the next event, move the next mountain, say yes, yes, yes to anything that will feed my addiction. This provides a straight shot of cortisol right to my brain.
So, I’m taking this month of NOvember to actually choose to say NO, and to become familiar instead with intention, calm, simplicity and flow. This doesn’t mean I’ll stop preparing and creating but it does mean that I’ll do it at an intentional, reasonable, calm pace that feels really good to my body. AND most importantly, I’ll start to say NO to whatever throws my integrity off balance.
This month, I will say NO to the following:
Joining anything until I let go of, or finish, what I have already committed to.
Anything that doesn’t feel good to my body… or at least wont’ feel good when it’s over. (Including that third piece of pumpkin pie!)
Anything that feeds my addiction of overwhelm!
If I want to have time for the things in my life that really matter to me, I have to let go of what doesn’t. This is how I’m taking ownership of creating exactly what I desire. This is my commitment to me.
What’s your commitment to YOU?