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Chaplain’s Corner

We are what we repeatedly do, Excellence therefore, is not an act, but a habit ~ Aristotle

Isn’t that just such a profound, yet awesome thought?

Excellence is something that we can learn by repeatedly doing something over and over until it becomes a habitual part of us. Continuous practice and being willing to fail, then get up learn from what went wrong and do it over again, makes the impossible, possible.

Unfortunately it also means that doing the same negative things repeatedly without learning from our mistakes, holds us back and can make us bitter at ourselves and the world around us. What are your most ingrained habits? Do they help or hinder you in your career and life decisions?

Habits are often the parts of us that we least think about or recognise aren’t they? Think for a moment about the things that you do subconsciously each and every day: brush your teeth in the morning and at night; drive, walk or take public transport along the same route to work.

What about self-talk habits, how often do you find yourself telling yourself that was a stupid thing to do but just in an insulting way rather than an ok – that was a bit (or more than a bit) daft, and I wouldn’t want to do it again, but what can I learn for next time kind of way? We’ve all been there, sometimes all too often unfortunately.

However, it is possible to retrain ourselves out of those negative habits to start the process of creating excellence in our lives, focusing on our achievements rather than our failures, being kind to ourselves even as we are being brutally honest with ourselves, remembering to add the positive learning point on to the talking to we’re giving ourselves when we’re reviewing our situation.

It does take work, it’s not an easy thing to do, but it is definitely possible. It means becoming a bit more self-aware so that we recognise it when we start to talk ourselves down rather than just wallowing in that negativity; it means focusing on what went wrong and what we can learn from that rather than simply telling ourselves we are hopeless and can’t do anything right; then it means actively focusing on the change that we want to make so that those actions gradually become our new habits.

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.

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