Caring Out Loud
For many of us, the past year has been quite a succession of hardships, afflictions, and attacks at every level: emotional, financial, social, political… We deeply believed in the idea that things would go back to normal. Therefore being patient and taking on ourselves would become our biggest asset. But it seems like a page is being turned and we could wisely get onboard with the once twisted idea of a New Normal.
And what at first seemed like a horrible challenge we might not recover from has actually proved to be one of the most relevant opportunities we’ve ever had to face our deepest internal questionings and a forced way to reflect on ourselves and our relationships with others. And whether you’re an introvert or extrovert it can become pretty hard to lie to yourself when you start spending some time with it.
How can spending time on your own can actually change your life, for the best?
It helps you get a better understanding of who you are.
Our busy lifestyles have forced us to juggle the roles we play on a daily basis. And switch from the ambitious employee suit to the cool friend suit to the lovable fiancee suit. Conditioning your success and happiness to external people and the environment is one draining, stressful exercise.
What if you seized this opportunity to figure out who you really want to be and what really makes you happy, open the doors of the unknown when no one is looking when there is no expectation or fear of judgment involved?
It makes you understand where your anxieties come from, solve your problems and optimize your life.
It feels like the right time to sit with what triggers you, understand what it reveals from past traumas, and what you can learn from it. Take some time to watch how your emotions arise and what they’re telling you, what is acceptable to you and to your values and what is not.
It clarifies your purpose and unleashes your creativity.
When an uncertain time is tied to losing a close one, it makes us reevaluate our priorities even more: how and where we’d like to spend our time, what we value most at work, at home or in relationships. Taking some time to assess these can help to redefine a direction and clarify your mission, cut out from things or people that you don’t feel connected to anymore, and get to love yourself a little bit more by feeling in alignment overall.
It makes you show up for others as your best self
When you take ownership of your comfort zone, it can lead you to appreciate being who you are as you find out more about your own personality. Ever tried Myers-Briggs tests or read more about your Enneagram or Human Design? When you take some time to figure out your finest skills and passions, you’ll become a surprisingly more magnetic, inspiring and attractive version to yourself - and to others.
This article was published for the first time in Humankind Magazine, Numero 1.