A dull ache has been living in my head since last Wednesday. As the calendar flipped to September, I’ve felt more scattered about priorities. There’s a long list I need to work on, including a major rebranding for my business, speaking proposals and a new web page, yet I’m not in the mood to address those things. Watching the news and checking social media only feeds my worry about illness, poverty and war in our world. On top of that, appointments have been canceling for odd reasons, leaving me with time to stew about what’s not going my way. I’ve entered the “stuck zone” and I suspect you might have been here before too.
What’s a positive, normally motivated person to do?
I’m quickly reminded that what I’m going through is what most of my clients have told me they struggle with, in a milder form. At least I’m sleeping straight through the night and there haven’t been any major upheavals in my life or support network. We all go through peaks and valleys. It’s my turn.
As I made lunch today, I listened to NPR’s Diane Rehm interview Gail Sheehy, the best selling author of Passages and a new memoir Daring. Both women reflected on their recent challenges involving the illness and death of a spouse. They also commented about how menopause can bring a major pause to creative output, followed by a flurry of new positive, activity. I like to think that’s what may be going on with me. The impatient women inside of me screams, “Can we just get on with it?” I want to believe there are better days ahead. Gail Sheehy marvels that she wrote 5 new books after menopause, even as she cared for her ailing husband. Right now the thought of that just ticks me off.
It occurs to me that I need the positive coach who lives inside of me to give the same kind of pep talk and energy intervention I’ve offered to weary clients time and again. I’d suggest they nurture themselves in a meaningful way, do something they love, and spend time tapping on their meridian balance points while accepting the present situation. We’d find a reframe that felt better while compassionately choosing to love ourselves as we are.
There’s no harm in trying it now. After a nice walk and a little time with my flowers, my higher self suggests this healing statement:
“Even though I feel tired and stuck today,
I choose to enjoy this time as a pause for re-direction.
I love and accept myself.”
