A Weekend Away

Y'all, for those of you curious, I STILL have an inner critic that tells me to get back to work.

She criticizes me for taking time away from calls, meetings, sessions, and social media.

When I take vacation, I can hear a running list of things I am falling behind on.

I have had this voice berating me for as long as I can remember.

As a youngster, is was about school and sports.

In college, on top of school and sports, it was about preparing to be a teacher.

As a teacher, it was endless berating about the endless to do lists.

As a consultant, it was about clients, orders, deliveries, and more.

As a manager, it was about a wedding, corporate career, and finances.

As a budding entrepreneur, it was about making sure I was building and not having to go back to 'work' for money.

As an author and podcaster, it was about not falling behind while also trying to build a biz AND make sales....

Are you catching onto the endlessness of it?
Ya feel me?
Have you got your own inner critic?

News flash: he/she's NOT going away!

That voice is simply ONE of the mechanisms of your brain that functions as automatically as the beating of your heart.

It is there and always will be.

The trick is, you don't have to engage with every thought, reaction, and judgement of your inner critic.

It's allowed to be there and it also doesn't have to run your life.

If you had a really negative or "worry-wart" kind of friend would you listen to their EVERY comment or concern? (I hope not)

This is ONE of the survival functions of the human condition and it is also the one that prevents you from touching fire and jumping off cliffs.

It's the survival functions of humanness that say we need money, food, safety, warmth, and shelter.

My inner critic wants me to work so we don't fall behind and end up broke, on the street, and begging for handouts.

The thing about that survival voice is she only knows the perspective of survival.

What she doesn't know well is how much the other parts of me know about adequate self care, rest, connection, restoration, and clarity.

Those are matters of the heart and I have to use my awareness to recognize and respect the difference between the head and the heart.

That inner critic? He/she's here for you.

When I am on vacation and my mind is telling me to work, I kindly let her know that we will when the time is right and it will be the right work.

I let her know that rest is right too and that enjoying life is as equally important as the work there is to be done.

The real work there is to do is be the captain of your ship,
the conductor of your orchestra, the author of your book.

You must transcend above the various parts of you that are in opposition of each other, take the lead, organize, and orchestrate their unified momentum.

You must recognize that there is a you who can identify the different parts of you.

Your soul.
Your soul gets to lead you through any and all challenges into triumph.

Trust that every part of you is for you and yet, they aren't meant to be the leader.

The soul of you is guiding you.
​
Let it.
Love it.
Enjoy it.
Live the life you love.