Woman's Meditation Week #1

I picked up a new journal/meditation book this weekend.  It has excerpts from the book "Meditations for Women Who Do Too much" by Anne Wilson Schaef.  I thought it might be nice to share one on a weekly basis for discussion or your own private journaling purposes.  Enjoy!

Week #1 - TRUST

Believing in our hearts that who we are is enough is the key to a more satisfying and balanced life.  Ellen Sue Stern.

I am enough!  I have always been afraid of being too much or too little.  What a relief I feel when I just sit with the possibility that I am enough.  Can it really be true that I am not what I do or what I produce or what I accomplish?  What if I am enough and I acomplish what I want to do?  Would that truly be enough?  Probably.

I would like a "satisfying and balanced" life.  I would like more time and energy for my work, myself and those I love.  When I recognize that I am enough, I will have what I want and need.

This really speaks to me.  Balance is something that I personally struggle with.  I have a very demanding job.  It requires me to work long hours, with my leaving the house at 530am and not getting home until close to 6pm.  And that's if I leave on time.  Sigh.  This has been my course for 10 years now, I've always been very engrossed in my moving onward and upward as a woman in construction.  In the last two years I have really peaked, but with that comes a huge commitment and responsibility.  I am very thankful and wouldn't change anything, but it still poses a challenge to come home and not be wiped out so that it doesn't intrude on my personal life, my chores, and of course my husband.  I seem to always be tired and it contributes to my not being as motivated around the house.  All of these things rolled together make for a challenging day, each and every Monday through Friday.  Anyone who knows me, knows that I completely live for the weekend.  It's the only time I really feel is MINE, just mine and gives me time to breathe a little without the rigorous work schedule.  I know, I know, we all go through this, but of course our own journey seems harder than most at times.  What funniest of all is that the only way I do seems to create balance is to again keep a rigorous schedule once I arrive at home too.  I find that if I block my time to include "me time", cleaning, dinner, exercise, etc, that is the only way I accomplish the most without losing steam and motivation.

I think I do need to step back and recognize that I am enough.  I'm doing great, I have a great career, I have a great husband and I am thankful for my home, family and friends.  Yes, I do fear that I could be doing more, but I need to focus that I *AM* doing as best I can and good things come (and continue to come) to those who are good and who are thankful.  If I have a day where I think I haven't done enough, I will just sit back and look again at what I have accomplished and be happy with myself for that.  Satisfaction is a funny thing, we all have things in our lives that we love and relish, but on the same token we all want MORE.  Let's be thankful for what we do have, what we have accomplished, what things have given us satisfaction and balance and of course the fact that WE ARE ENOUGH!

Oh Lauren! I can and do relate. I am always feeling like I am not good enough, what I do is never enough and that I should and could constantly be doing more.

I have the best son, great parents, great friends, nice home in a nice neighborhood and now, I am on my way to a happier, healthier me. But yet... it just doesn't seem to be good enough, well for me anyways. Self fulfillment is something I haven't experienced.

I need to do the same thing. Look at what I have, compared to what I couldn't have. Think about how far I have come and not worry about where things could be. I need to accept things for what they are and be happy & content with that. Things definitely could be a lot worse.

Hugs to you darling!

This is a GREAT idea.   Like everyone else...balance is something that I struggle with.  Balance between my work life and my personal life has been easy...it's the balance within my own house hold that is well...out of balance. It's where the structure goes out the window.  I have a hard time balancing my fun life with my workouts.  Feels like I have way too many activites and can be overwhelming at times.  And when I get overwhelmed, I just want to clam up - which ends up that the fun stuff doesn't get done. This is a topic that is definately worth me thinking on..... THANKS!!

Good am Lauren, I really love this idea and post and look forward to future ones. This is giving me quite a bit to think about with regard to where I am in my life right now. I keep my personal life for the most part VERY sacred and very cherished and lately I've been a little more open with regard to a few things and I am weirded out by it in that I wonder if I'm really doing enough, everything I can to be everything for everyone. I always wonder if I can do this better or that better or more of this and less of that. I refer to all this as "storms" and I must admit that I down myself for what I feel are my short coming when in reality to many I am going WAY above and beyond what some would say is fair to me. In another aspect its taken a long time for me to begin to see that *I* am a good mother, friend, sister, daughter and more and in the past I've found reasons WHY I am not good at those roles. Its finding myself and believing in what is true and real and I know that NOW but the last several years have been a struggle. Lessons taught & learned for sure. Thanks for posting this. I journal nearly on a daily basis sometimes often during a day. I ask myself a lot of things and its nice to be able to go back and say "ok I'm actually getting some where." Btw, there is another book you might be interested in called "natural superwoman" (yes in lower case letters) the survival guide for women who have too much to do. Its by Rosamond Richardson and its phenomenal! It was given to me by someone and I really enjoy reading and re-reading it again and again. Hugs..........