Courage in Action:
a blog of Empowered Life Counseling LLC
Blog posts and news about the therapy practice, including mental health education and resources; reflections about authentic living in times of stress and change; and business updates.
Are you Ready for Wholehearted Living? Learn about The Gifts of Imperfection
In her previous work, Brene has taught us about the powerful emotions of guilt and shame and the difference between them – guilt is “I made a mistake” and shame is “I am a mistake.” These powerful emotions wreak havoc on our identity and during her interviews with hundreds of people, she learned about characteristics of people who were more resilient to shame. She calls this Wholehearted living, opening The Gifts with “Wholehearted living is about engaging in our lives from a place of worthiness. It means cultivating the courage, compassion, and connection to wake up in the morning and think, No matter what gets done and how much is left undone, I am enough. It’s going to bed at night thinking, Yes, I am imperfect and vulnerable and sometimes afraid, but that doesn’t change the truth that I am also brave and worthy of love and belonging.”
‘Show Up With Hope’: Anne Lamott’s Plan for Facing Adversity
I ran across this post shared on social media a while back and its been rolling around my head - the courage that it takes to have hope for the future, in spite of knowledge to the contrary. Sometimes a message is best communicated directly from the source (shared on Facebook on May 14, 2020): ‘Show Up With Hope’: Anne Lamott’s Plan for Facing Adversity
With Earth beset by conflict, climate change, pollution, and other ills, the best-selling author asks: What better time to be hopeful?
You would almost have to be nuts to be filled with hope in a world so rife with hunger, hatred, climate change, pollution, and pestilence, let alone the self-destructive or severely annoying behavior of certain people, both famous and just down the hall, none of whom we will name by name.
Just be You! Learning to Live Authentically
We put a lot of pressure on ourselves, especially during the holidays. Why not try relaxing some of those expectations and being a bit more authentic? There are some reasons it’s a good thing… it takes a lot less energy to think about and plan how are expected to behave, rather than to just be. It allows for true one-ness with self and can be a nearly spiritual experience. It’s often seen as a sign of psychological growth and accomplishment, what we’re truly looking for.
So how do we do it? Reign-in those people-pleasing tendencies and notice the patterns where they tend to occur. Those are areas you might need to work on some boundaries and assertive communication. Be honest, don’t hide your feelings. We feel happier when we live our truth.
