Do you treat yourself as well as you treat others?
Think about it… do you have the same kindness, compassion, care, or concern toward yourself that you do for others?
What if you did? What would it feel like? How would you behave?
I decided to do this for myself recently; give myself the time, care, compassion, and space that I give my clients. I was feeling scattered, unorganized, and overly-busy. I knew I needed space to get create my vision for the upcoming months, both personally and professionally but was having trouble getting clear on that vision. I decided to treat myself to a day at my cottage, like I do for my clients. It wasn’t easy. My inner critic was reminding me of all the things we had to do and that there wasn’t time for an uninterrupted day, off the grid. Truth is, there wasn’t time to not do that, so I soothed that inner voice, assuring her the time would be most valuable. And, what I discovered was that it was beyond valuable. Here’s what I got by spending a day off the grid, focused on me, uninterrupted, in the middle of a serene setting in the woods:
Clarity
When was the last time you and spent time completely off the grid, uninterrupted? I couldn’t remember the last time I did that for myself, if ever. Allowing myself that space created a stream of clarity around things that seemed so foggy the days and weeks before. In the silence of nature and the crackling of a fire I could hear answers, see my vision, and create solutions that had been clouded by brain chatter and environmental stimuli in the prior weeks.
Peace
Stepping away from the internet and my phone allowed for instant peace and quiet. Sometimes quiet makes us uncomfortable. We’re so addicted to reaching for our smart phones and being continually connected that it feels strange when we don’t have that at our fingertips; and yet, hours of uninterrupted and disconnected time allows us to realize how very much we need that type of peace on a consistent basis. It didn’t take more than maybe an hour for me to stop thinking about and wondering what phone calls or emails I was missing. I knew they’d be there at the end of the day, and I embraced the peace my mind, body, and spirit craved.
Reconnection
Being disconnected from our electronic devices and others creates an incredible reconnection – with the inner voice of our soul. That voice is always there leading and guiding us, only it gets drowned out by the chatter of our environment, by the busyness of the lives we lead, and by all those who continually request our presence and our time. By spending a day alone at my cottage, I reconnected with the only voice I ever need to heed and honor – that of my inner self. This reconnection was a reminder that taking time off the grid is something that needs to be done on a regular basis.
Creation
After several hours of peace, quiet, introspection, and reflection I was amazed at how much creation had happened. My vision had emerged, which a day earlier I doubted was possible. Not only had it emerged but it was clear and felt completely right for the direction I wanted to head. Writing ideas flowed through me. Inspired action steps to make my vision a reality came from seemingly nowhere, which is the hidden beauty of taking time to focus on you: things emerge from the peace and quiet, ideas flow, and you feel refreshed.
Freedom
Freedom is not something I expected to experience during this day to myself. I heard my clients reference it as something they gained from spending time at my cottage, but perhaps because it’s in my backyard and something I have easy access to I wasn’t expecting it to be a freeing experience. I was wrong. There’s something incredibly liberating about spending time with yourself, off the grid, where no one can access you, and you are, well…FREE for a short while. Free to be who you want and do what you want. Free to create and dream and allow the silence of your surroundings to speak to and guide you. Free from regular responsibilities and to listen to and honor that inner voice that will never steer you wrong.
That’s what I got by spending a day on me and by allowing myself with the same love and compassion that I give to others. And, this is just one example of how I can treat myself as I treat others. Imagine if I did it all the time, in all areas of my life? What about you? What would happen if you allowed yourself the same love, kindness, and compassion you give others? My guess is you’d have a lot more love, kindness and compassion to keep giving. Give it a try for one day, like I did, and see what happens. I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Do you want to experience the same peace and clarity Andria did at Ashlyn Cottage? Click here for more information.
