Category: Authenticity

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Treat Yo’Self

Treat Yo SelfTreat Yo’Self was a repeating bit on Parks and Recreation, an awesome, hilarious show that I binged with my husband last year. Tom and Donna would go all out and have a day dedicated to indulging in shopping, good food and things that made them feel ‘treated’. I latched on to the idea and have waited for an opportunity to treat my self.  And I made it happen last week.

The plan was…go to Sonoma, alone, stay at an indulgent hotel, relax poolside, go to the spa, the mineral pools, get a massage, do some yoga…and spend time in personal reflection. I did all those things! Not kidding. What was interesting was the narrative going on in my mind the entire time. Let me break it down.

My mind is rarely still. As much as I wanted it to be a weekend where I was at peace, resting my mind and body, my mind was cheated. In fact, it seemed like it may have been on overdrive. Massage…should be a quiet time in my brain, right? No dice. As much as I tried, the thoughts kept floating back. It got to the point where I even talked to the massage therapist about it. Karli told me that it was not uncommon for people to struggle with keeping their mind still. Great…but didn’t get me closer to my objective. When I finally decided to stop resisting and just listen to myself, here’s what I noticed.

I think a lot about responsibility. About home, work, marriage, friends, what to make for dinner, how will the house get clean since I’m laying on a massage table…all kinds of responsibility that come with those areas of life. And it’s a matter of juggling in my head. Keeping all the balls in the air. In reality, I’ve realized that a lot of those balls aren’t supposed to be mine in the first place. I am the only one who has an expectation that I keep them up.

Deep breath…there’s also a worthiness element to it. In my mind I question whether I’mForgiveness in the fire worthy enough to take the time to treat myself. Sadly, I know I’m not alone in this. Just that thought makes me sad. But not enough that I don’t have the thoughts. I have a shame loop that plays in my head. One which I’m working on letting go of, but which is set on shuffle. Which past situation will play in my head today and push me back down, keep me small? I want those thoughts to subside and I work diligently to release them. I’ve been writing a letter to myself, forgiving myself for the things I’ve done that caused me to feel that way, that developed the shame playlist. I added to that letter last week and then I burned it – at the fancy hotel – in their decorative fire pit. Thankfully, no one was around to witness it. I mean, I think I may have gotten a little flack for burning the letter in the gas fire pit, maybe? That would have defeated the release for sure. Do I feel better after burning it? A little. And that’s ok. If I can feel a little better at a time, it will add up, I’m sure of it!

There were plenty of other aha moments that I’ll spare you of but the last, really, really big one happened during my massage. I did this whole chocolate cinnamon body scrub followed by an hour massage. Could I eat the scrub? Yes, but I refrained. I think I’ve mentioned before that I don’t have a foot so I wear a prosthetic leg. Because it was a scrub, I took my leg off – something I don’t normally do for a massage. And my gal Karli scrubbed that leg and foot too. Dramatic pause… Because here’s the thing, that leg, that part of me, and the experience of going through it at a young age, it’s something that’s always there but not something I pay a lot of attention to. So to have attention paid to the physical limb, it rocked me a little bit. It was a punch in the gut if I’m honest. What am I going to do about it? Well, I’m rolling that around in my head and honestly, I’m fairly certain I’ll be writing about it again soon.

But I’ll leave you today with these thoughts. Treat Yo Self? It’s awesome and everyone should do it. What happens in your mind, what happened in mine? That’s part of the journey. My treat yo’self weekend likely looks different than yours. Awesome! Whatever it is that makes you feel special – do that! There are many in the world who would say it’s indulgent – I don’t care. It’s part of my authentic journey. Take time now and then to give yourself the care you are giving others.  Be brave my sweet friends, you owe it to yourselves.

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Let’s talk emotions

love-is-a-thousand-emotions-joined-tgether-as-oneWith Valentine’s day approaching, it seems like a great time to talk about emotions. I’m currently taking Brene Brown’s “Brave Leaders” course online and it is amazing in so many ways. I’m currently in a deep dive in courage which involves exploring how we show up in life. Is it with vulnerability, with empathy? It’s a fascinating course, and I love Brene Brown so….there’s that.

But, loving this course doesn’t mean it’s a walk in the park. As is the bulk of Brene’s work, it’s valuable to the degree you dig in, look at more than the easy response. You have to take a deep breath and get ready because often times what you discover has more than a lingering impact.

That’s what happened to me this week. There was an exercise on “emotional literacy” to help you understand emotions you experience and what it looks like when you’re moving through that emotion. Often times, what other people experience when you’re in that space is only the surface emotion, and there is a whole lot more going on underneath the surface.

I’ll let you play along…abbreviated version…just for fun. Read this list of emotions. Which ones can you recognize and describe as you’re experiencing them.

Anxious    Belonging    Blame    Curious    Disappointed    Excited    Embarrassment     Fear    Frustrated     Gratitude   Guilt    Happy    Hurt     Joy     Judgement     Love     Overwhelmed     Shame    Vulnerability

Maybe you circled the ones you can identify with, that you know when you’re in that emotion. Look at your words again. Notice any pattern? Here’s what I noticed that smacked me in the face. The bulk of emotions I could identify with were what I would label as negative (and the list was twice as long).

So I looked at the list again, I must have missed some positive emotions. Nope. Being honest and truthful with myself there were more negative emotions I could identify with than positive.

That realization really made me go inside my head. If I’m honest with myself, my words were not a surprise to me. I’m a fairly serious person by nature. I’m working on lightening up, and there are moments of it, but I’ve been called serious more than once. But looking at the list as seeing more negative emotions, fear-based emotions, caused me to pause. Maybe you felt the something similar?

Instead of spiraling into a shame storm of, I’m not a good person, I made a choice. That choice was to identify the root of those emotions.

In my mind, looking at the root goes back a long ways. And I don’t look at the root to place blame, but to understand it, and to move through it. Because here’s the deal. Those emotions might show up, but they shouldn’t be what comes up the majority of the time. They are coming from a place of fear, even if that fear is only subconscious, but it’s fear nonetheless.

I choose to come from a place of love. To consciously view situations from a place of love. That doesn’t mean I don’t experience other emotions, like hurt, at times, but I can choose to shift the lens of how I view my situation so I don’t stay in that space.

How about you? I’m not gonna lie, this is not easy work. But it’s oh so valuable. It’s part of being an authentic version of myself. It’s being brave. My encouragement to you is to think about emotions you recognize…and pause. Reflect on where they come from. It’s up to you to make the choice of how you want to experience a situation, the story you want to tell yourself about it. As for me, my journey is to change my lens to love. Myself, and others, it’s what God would call us to do. Love others. Don’t wait to figure it all out, start…right…now! Be brave my friends.

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The battle inside

Authenticity-Quote-2I’ve been thinking lately about the changes we go through in life, namely, menopause. Well, maybe not menopause itself, but this process my female body is going through as I transition in life to something else, something unknown. For me, it started years ago, the hot flashes, the moods, all that jazz. Now I’m in a new phase – the done phase – but there are other things that come with that, some of which I’m none to pleased about. I keep looking for the answer, the fix. The solution that will make what I’m experiencing stop.

But here’s the thing I’m realizing. It’s not going to stop. There is no magic pill but nonetheless I’ve spent an awful lot of time and energy looking for the solution. What I’m starting to realize is, all that stuff I’m experiencing? It’s part of the deal. The female body is meant to be in this phase. As I’ve said before, I grew two humans with my body, my body has done amazing things, but now it’s done with that and on to supporting me in different experiences in life. The a-ha I had the other day was that I’ve been fighting, resisting this process that is natural. I’m not fighting because I’m afraid of it, at least I don’t think so. But because my view of the ideal, the way I think I should look and feel, is not what I’m experiencing. So there’s this internal battle constantly waging within me. It’s the battle I’m fighting.

In all honesty, it’s part of self-acceptance. Of accepting my body the way it’s supposed to be in this phase of life. Of loving it instead of wanting parts of it to ‘get with the program.’ The longer I stay in opposition with myself, is that much less I can actually enjoy what ahead for me in this stage.

So as my mind does, it spun the idea that I may be fighting with myself into other areas of life. Think about it. Maybe it’s that feeling that you are just short of fulfilling your purpose. But for whatever reason, it’s just at the end of your fingertips. There is always something that holds you back. Truth is, I’m starting to wonder if that something is you, or in my case, me. I have ambitions that I’ll stop short of because I fight myself on it. I find the excuses. Excuses that are really just a mask for fear.

It’s that way in relationships at times. The desire to go deeper is there. It’s so real that you can almost touch it. Almost. But you don’t. You keep creating circumstances that stop you just short of going deep, or true connection. Why are you doing that???

The fight, I think, is somewhat to maintain the status quo. The reality that I’ve created for myself. The changes in life, the progression of my body, stepping into my purpose, my calling, they rock the boat. I fight to keep things as they are, not because I necessarily like the status quo, but I know it. The harder I fight, the more I hold on to the very thing that I’m supposed to be moving through, moving past. Experiences I’m naturally designed and destined to move through – or move into. There is no magic that’s going to get me there.  It’s only by allowing myself to stop fighting and to embrace, to relax into it, to love the journey.

So, I ask you, what are you fighting? What battle can you lay down? What can you do today to embrace you and all the joy God has for you? Today, not tomorrow. We’ve waited long enough. Be authentic, be brave.

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Let’s talk addiction…well sort of

View More: http://mercarty.pass.us/lisa_kirbyYes, I said addiction, and I’m not going to be talking about alcohol, or drugs. Yes, those can be addictions, absolutely. What I want to talk about are those behaviors, habits, patterns, that we’re addicted to, maybe not even consciously, that continue to create issues in our lives.  That keep us away from being our true authentic self, but which we do anyways.

If you think about an addiction, it usually is based on the feeling that you get when you engage in the behavior. It’s the feeling that you crave, that you repeat over and over. Robert Palmer sang about being “Addicted to Love.” If you take it literally, it was probably the addiction to the endorphin rush that comes with being with someone you love. Those feelings of safety, and peace, and belonging.

But what about when the addiction is not so benign? Lately I’ve been thinking about that question related to my own behaviors. I’ve noticed that I tend to get fired up about taking an action, a class, to embark on a shift in the way I do certain aspects of life. I have all types of plans swirling around in my head. I’ll take notes, I’ll start plans…and somewhere along the way, I’ll end up leaving a pile of dreams on the side of the road. I’ll be frustrated for a while, trying unsuccessfully to restart the fire. Usually that’s followed by a period of apathy. Don’t care. Don’t need to be growing. Abandon the creative passions that bring me energy. Slowly giving away my purpose.

I don’t like it.

But…I know it.

This week, I started questioning myself about it. Why is it that I allow myself to go through this cycle? There have been times when I push through it, absolutely. Last year I went through my 6-month coaching program. Nailed it. Loved it. Came out ready to set the world on fire. But I stopped feeding the dream and eventually it faded. And I have to wonder, is it part of an addiction? What’s the feeling inside me that comes up when I let a dream die? Easy answer. It’s disappointment in myself. It’s the voice in my head saying “of course you didn’t do it, it wasn’t important, you overreached…again…you’re not meant for anything big…anything exciting…not worth it.” It’s an ugly voice, but I recognize it, I know what to do when it comes up. I slow down. I settle.

That feeling that comes up, that disappointment, in myself, or that I perceive others have in me, it didn’t develop yesterday. Not a mid-life crisis thing. No, I’m sure it’s been buried in me for years. So I call it an addiction, but is it? Maybe. It’s a pattern. I don’t seek the feeling but know what to do with it. It keeps me small, safe in a way because I become hesitant to take risks.

I want to call B.S. on it. I want to find a different feeling. One that is healthier. One that is growing. These are choices we have. We can choose to follow the same pattern, same feeling we’re addicted to, or we can take different actions. And that probably won’t be comfortable, it’ll be new, maybe scary. But to be our authentic selves, for me to be my authentic self, I have to make different choices. I’m asking you today to think about what feeling you’re ready to give up, need to give up. Identify it and know that you can start behaving differently today. You don’t need that feeling anymore. I’m walking it out with you and know that we can do it, we can be brave, together.

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What’s holding you back?

Its-Not-Who-You-Are-That-Holds-You-BackI watch This is Us. If you don’t, your missing up on some good drama. A tug at your heart every week, sometimes for unexpected reasons. There are elements of the show, in each of the characters, I relate to. This week I was left thinking about one of the scenes that really spoke to me. So this is your spoiler alert, I’m going to talk about it.

Kate, one of the main characters, is morbidly obese and one of the storylines is around her struggle and wanting to lose weight. The story is told is current day and in flashbacks. This week they showed Kate in a flashback at about 16/17 years old. She was shopping for a prom dress and had the number 7 written on her wrist. As she recalled this story, you saw her grab a variety sizes and when she tried the 7 on, it fit perfectly. But she had struggled with weight her whole life. And having a piece of clothing she really wanted fit was an experience she didn’t know how to have. Instead, she tried on a size 3 dress that was far to small, and the sensation of it not fitting, of having to struggle, was one she could relate to. She left that dressing room presumably disgusted with herself, no dress in hand.

It made me wonder how often that happens, whether it be about weight, or about some other piece of ourselves that we work diligently to change, but when it does, we don’t feel equipped, or prepared, to give up our old reality, old definitions of ourselves, and step into our new way of being. I know I’ve struggled with weight and body image a long time and for me to be in a space where I’m friends with myself, with my body, seems to be fleeting. I may not like it, but I’m a lot more comfortable in the space of not liking myself, of how I look.

And I don’t like that I do that, that I stay in that negative image space. I’ve been working long and hard to make progress on it, and I think I’m making strides. From not being fixated about a number on the scale (which I no longer own,) to ignoring the number on my pants.

How do we stay there? How do we embrace the new space we want to be in when our old space…old worn out space…is so comfy, so cozy, so inviting. The new space might feel intimidating. You don’t have all of your ways of operating figured out in this new space. It’s not as comfortable. Here’s what I’d tell you. That’s not a bad thing.  It takes risk. It take realizing that you may have been created “for such a time as this,” (Esther 4:14).  What aspect of your life, what calling, what purpose, are you holding back from out of fear, out of leaving the shore…leaving the cozy. If you want to make strides toward being authentic, to being the best you, it takes being brave. I, for one, think we can do it. I’m in your corner and can’t wait to see where it leads us.

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The show must go on

The words on the front of the memorabilia shirt I got from the Celine Dion concert we went to a couple weeks ago. In a way, those words are a good catch phrase for my life. Not the end all be all phrase, but a good one. You see, I persevere. I’m a soldier, tough cookie. I can be a daisy, but when push comes to shove, I march forward. Think about it, when you see an obstacle, does it stop you, or do you go MacGyver on it and figure out not only a way around but re-engineer it so it’s now an advantage to you? Yeah, I’m usually MacGyver. I take pride in making opportunities out of challenges. It’s the soldier thing.

I remember a time when I was probably 15 and my mom and stepdad took us kids on a backpacking trip. Being a teenager filled with angst, I was having none of it. I bitterly marched on, stone faced, determined not to have fun. After reaching the campsite and dropping our gear, we decided to go up to Summit Lake. A lake, in hindsight, that was beautiful. It sits at the border of the Hoover Wilderness and Yosemite. Along the way we had to cross what I think was a beaver dam across a river. As I went across, my left leg, prosthetic and all, went through the dam, up to my thigh in ice cold water.

Oh really beaver? Game on…

I pulled my leg out and with complete resolve went the rest of the way to Summit Lake. Beaver be dammed (pun not so much intended, but oh so convenient). I wanted no help, nada. The show must go on. I can actually still remember the route to that lake in my head. I think I’d enjoy it a lot more now since nature is my jam, but then? I was a soldier.

So this week, I’ve had an illness trying to get hold of me. True to form, I marched forward. No, I’m not sick…kept going to work…sure I could beat it. Not going to get me down, until I had no choice. I took a death spiral Friday afternoon and all-day Saturday to the point where I started to get a little worried. Fever, coughing, not able to breathe…and worst of all, no appetite. I’m one of those people who never loses their appetite so I knew something must be wrong. It got to the point where when my husband suggested taking me to urgent care late in the day, I agreed. And sure enough, bronchitis. Good thing is I got on drugs and should be getting to the other side soon.

But this really isn’t about my illness, it’s about that mindset. At some point, I’ve realized that perseverance is good. Hard headedness is not. Self-compassion? It’s a strength. Truth is, I need to ask myself, what are you trying to prove? And more importantly, to who? What is it in me that has a hard time admitting frailty, with being seen as anything other than strong and one tough cookie?

The challenge is, I’ve been seen as this person for so long, it’s how people know me. So there’s a small voice in me that questions if they’d still like me if I actually showed the weakness when it arises. When the mask comes off. It’s not that the soldier isn’t part of who I am, but it’s part of authenticity. The authentic me gets sick sometimes. Isn’t always strong. Needs to be carried rather than doing the carrying at times.  Authenticity leans on being brave to be self-compassionate, and lets others see all the parts. It’s part of the journey my friends and if it resonates with you, I encourage you to think about what mask you could put down today. I’m walking right along with you.