Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there ~ Will Rogers
Some days it’s really hard to motivate yourself isn’t it? Just to keep that enthusiasm for life and work bubbling?
Whenever I have one of those days I think about this quote from Will Rogers and it makes me smile a little to myself. It’s just so true. What do you do to give yourself a boost on the lacklustre days? I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t have one now and again. There seem to be so many things to worry over in our world at the moment, post covid economy; post Brexit economy; sadness and horror about the war in Ukraine and the way that people are being affected by the ongoing situation. The images of loss and devastation are hard to process aren’t they? When we find ourselves struggling with our home-grown issues; it’s almost impossible to imagine how people who live through such devastation in other countries can ever begin to recover and yet, somehow, they manage to hold on to hope.
The other side of the devastation are the images of people working together to support and help each other, to encourage each other and to rally around each other. Humans can inflict terrible harm on each other and on the planet through a desperate need for power and wealth. Yet so many humans can also be totally selfless, nurturing and caring.
Sometimes, in our lives, there is a need to be able to just ‘sit there’ and to appreciate the moment. That’s why meditation can be so soothing and helpful in maintaining health and equilibrium; but at what point does that centring ‘sitting there’ become problematic and make us feel as if we’ve ‘lost our mojo’ and our sense of direction or purpose?
Do you worry about whether you are on the right track? Feel conflicted about the direction of travel in life or career? Sometimes those kind of concerns can stymie us and make us feel deflated / demotivated as we struggle to see our way around a situation at home or at work.
Meditation can help us to think through those issues and to gain a different perspective. Motivating ourselves to take action can be a whole different ball-game though. Exercise can help raise our energy levels (as much as it exhausts us at the time). Being less judgemental towards ourselves can also increase our energy and motivation levels, learning to be a little forgiving of our down time rather than dwelling on it and letting it prevent us from moving forward at all.
As chaplains part of our role is to help you find ways of nourishing yourself, giving yourself time to explore what will help you to feel positive and hopeful in life. We are that listening ear that you can bounce thoughts, hopes or concerns onto. We can also sign-post you to organisations that provide extra support in a range of situations. We’re here most Monday and Wednesday lunchtimes to listen whatever you would like to talk about and if you just want to break up your day with a light-hearted conversation that’s great too. Have a blessed week.
If you don’t manage to catch up with a chaplain on site, as always you can contact us via email on info@mitechaplaincy.com where you can request a call-back, or you are very welcome to call me (Debbie) directly on my mobile: 07526 378529 either to chat or to arrange a time to meet up with myself or one of the other chaplains. We also have a range of resources on our web-site that help in dealing with stress: https://mite.org.uk If you prefer you can easily keep in touch with us on social media: Facebook: @mitechaplaincy Twitter: @mitesthwarr
Photo by KOTA HAMORI on Unsplash