It’s not possible to pour from an empty cup or draw from an empty well; the metaphors are plentiful and they point to one thing - depletion and the lack of fruitfulness from that state of overdoing and under prioritising you. Idioms along this vein may sound familiar, possibly running through your mind from time to time when things are getting on top, yet it may feel easier to keep things moving as they are, or put off looking at what needs changing until you have more time. (The irony is captivating!)
Depletion is a state that is all too familiar in your busy life especially when you have many different roles to play each with their own responsibilities, expectations and people to serve. The discernment on how to show up in an area of your life can be confusing to determine. When you are at work thinking about the things you have to do at home, or how to organise the dinner, school drop offs, playdates and getting home to manage that timetable only to find your mind wandering back to work matters. That is probably only a tiny proportion of what is actually on your plate to handle. It feels endless, harrowing, insurmountable. We have all been programmed into thinking that this is just the way it has to be, life in this world at this time is driven by pushing, striving, doing more to get more and doing it over and over again.
Depletion stops you from being able to think straight, it stops you from being able to be fully present, it stops you from being able to enjoy the full potential of your life wherever you are along your journey. Depletion in energy, in time, in money, in emotion, in breath, in self awareness, in emotional intelligence in all the things that give life its richness and texture and my wish for you is that you are open to seeing that this is not something that you have to accept. This is not something that you have to resign yourself or your body, mind and energy to. You deserve more than constantly running on empty. It may take time, commitment, investment, dedication and determination to change your framework, but it is possible and what becomes available on the other side is more than worth it.
You may not be aware of how your behaviours may unconsciously be feeding into the depletion that you experience. People pleasing, fear of sharing how you feel, doing things the way family members have always done them without questioning if it works for you or even doing the exact opposite of what family members have done because what they did didn’t work for you but not consciously adopting the new way. Your habits, patterns, reactions, thoughts, emotions and decisions reveal so much about where you are, but you may not be able to see the wood for the trees because you are so caught up in the whirlwind that is your life. When you start to notice repetitive depletion and disconnection and despondency in your life, it’s time to choose something different, it’s time to choose you.
Choosing you over being a captive to how life happened around you, choosing you to make deliberate, intentional, sometimes hard choices that bring you back to vitality, bring you back to excitement in your days, bring you back to a sense of progress and ownership in your world. And if these words sound alien to you because you’ve never experienced this - choosing you is long overdue.
As women in the world at this time we have way more power than we have been led to believe, we have more ways to connect to learn to grow and evolve than have ever been available. Be demanding more than survival and making it through the day we move past the chains of systems that have been created to keep us contained. You have the choice to create your world, a world that serves, supports and allows you to thrive, and when you live in this way you influence those around you, giving them permission to do the same so that we collectively rise and change the world together.
If this feels so far away from you now, reach out and we can talk about what can help get you started on your way.
I believe in you!
All the love,
Ella xxx