Maintenance Required

You deserve it. You’re worth it. You need it.

I have good friends and family that tell me (remind me of) those things often, but I’m not sure I’ve always listened to (or believed) them. The thing is...they are right. I DO deserve to take care of myself. I AM worthy of pampering myself. I DO need to stop and take care of my physical and emotional needs.

So why don’t I? Why do I think that small voice whispering “I need a reset” or that physical weariness almost yelling “REST!” don’t matter and “soldering on” will quench their needs?

Being aware of personal strengths and limitations is a sign of emotional intelligence.

So what are you going to do about it?

I’ll bet when the “maintenance required” indicator light comes on in your car you don’t ignore it. I’ll bet it almost startles you to attention and you call your auto service desk right away to make an appointment to get it checked out.

More subtly, maybe, I’ll bet you know when your car is out of alignment. I hate it when you have to actually use pressure on your steering wheel to keep it within the appropriate white road lines—that’s annoying, time consuming and urgent. But maybe it’s so subtle you don’t really notice or have just gotten used to turning the wheel ever so slightly to the left to avoid going off the road. Just because it seems normal to you, doesn’t mean nothing is wrong. After all, a car out of alignment and left on its own goes off course pretty fast.

You can get out of alignment, too. And just because you manage to make it through the day and check all the items off your to-do list doesn’t mean you are in alignment and not veering off-course.

You deserve to be in alignment. You are worth a tune-up. The world (and you) needs you to be your best, authentic self.