Pacing
We work at a comfortable pace and rest before we get tired. To remind ourselves, we check our level of energy before proceeding to our next activity. We do not get "wound up" in our work so we don't have to unwind.
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The next principle from Workaholics Anonymous Tools of Recovery:
Pacing We work at a comfortable pace and rest before we get tired. To remind ourselves, we check our level of energy before proceeding to our next activity. We do not get "wound up" in our work so we don't have to unwind.
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The next three principles from Workaholics Anonymous Tools of Recovery:
Underscheduling We allow more time than we think we need for a task or a trip, allowing a comfortable margin to accommodate the unexpected. Play We schedule time for play, refusing to let ourselves work non-stop. We do not make our play into a work project. Concentrating We try to do one thing at a time. The first three principles from Workaholics Anonymous Tools of Recovery:
Listening Set aside time each day for prayer and meditation. Before accepting any commitments, we ask our Higher Power and W.A. friends for guidance. Prioritizing We decide which are the most important things to do first. Sometimes that may mean doing nothing. We strive to stay flexible to events, reorganizing our priorities as needed. We view interruptions and accidents as opportunities for growth. Substituting We do not add a new activity without eliminating from our schedule one that demands equivalent time and energy. From Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own:
No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself. Today, accept joy. Welcome and savor moments of lightheartedness, gratitude, laughter, love, beauty, comfort, companionship. You are not betraying life's seriousness or suffering. You will not jeopardize your self-improvement projects or your usefulness in the world. Joy will not make you lazy or self-indulgent or self-satisfied. Flashes of joy are gifts from Love.
Elizabeth Gilbert in her book on creativity Big Magic quotes the poet Jack Gilbert: "We must risk delight. We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world." Today, you do not have to be useful to have value or be worthy of Love. Like puppies or flowers or children's laughter or a painting or a song, your value is not determined by how much work you accomplish or how "useful" that work. Don't let your desire to be useful blind you from recognizing the natural beauty and light in your being.
Buddhist teacher Tara Brach's chose this quote from Hafiz as the epigraph for her book True Refuge:
I wish I could could show you When you are lonely or in darkness, The astonishing light Of your own Being! Today, trust your light. Know that your beauty and worth and gifts and wisdom and love are greater than any of your fears or faults. Today, see the tenderness and childlike vulnerability and desire to feel worthy and loved in each one of us. Treat others with tender compassion. Treat yourself with tender compassion.
Today, know that wisdom (love and intelligence) is given to you as a divine gift, ever present, active, and accessible. You don't have to generate it yourself from your small and limited mind and experience. Open yourself and ask for wisdom. Ask for wisdom in your relationships. Ask for wisdom in your work. Ask for wisdom in your actions. Ask for wisdom in your words. Ask for wisdom in the ways you treat yourself and others.
Today, you don't have to generate love for others - or for yourself. Love has its source in Love. Love is a powerful river that flows without interruption. Love is the foundation we all stand on. You don't have to create it. You don't will it into being. You are not the source of love for others - but love flows through you. Others are not the source of love for you, but love flows through them. Love comes with its own power, so expressing love cannot drain you of energy.
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AuthorTarn Wilson is the author of the memoir The Slow Farm and numerous essays. You may read more of her work at tarnwilson.com. Archives
September 2020
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