Focusing on ourselves is often described as “selfish”.
Focusing on the needs of others is “selfless”.
This time last year, I was in a session with my therapist and didn’t realized how close I was to burnout. He sat patiently and listened as I detailed -
- All the things I had to do
- All the things I had to do better
- All the people I felt like I was letting down
He waited patiently, took a long pause, and said, “Well…It sounds like you’re being pretty selfless.”
I was NOT expecting to hear that.
Then he went on to ask, “Have you ever wondered why people enjoy helping others? 👉🏻 Because it makes them feel good.”
“What do you think people who give and give and give without considering their own needs feel?” 🤯
I left this session with a whole new way of looking at the deeper meaning of SELFishness & SELFlessness.
When we show up in ways that align with our values, is in service of ourselves AND others – we feel great!
When we push ourselves too far, put too much on our plates, AND are more willing to put pressure on ourselves than disappoint someone else – we experience burnout.
Stay connected with my content this week as we take this conversation further. LMK what you think in the comments below!
New on the podcast! Episode 71. A baby-cast.
My boo, David is back and we’re talking about our journey over the last two years with all things:
💚Baby’s
💚Fertility
💚Parenting (in theory)
In this episode we laugh at each other, and ourselves, A LOT as we explore our “best guesses” with what it means to become parents, how we hope to be, and the thoughts that keep us up tonight.
I know I may be bias, but he’s my favorite person. And together, we’re making a person. So, yeah… this episode was pretty fun.
My intention for sharing this particular story was, in part for my own processing. The other motivation was to honor the stories that so many women and couples have shared with me over the last two years through –
- Trying to get pregnant for the first time
- Experiencing a miscarriage
- Trying again
- And then navigating the emotions of ACTUALLY getting the thing we wanted
Our story is personal, unique to us, and also one of millions just like it. To listen to our first episode together, check out Season 1, ep. 9 or click here.
To listen to the new episode, click here.
If this content got your wheels turning and you’re ready to take self-exploration to the next level and click HERE to pick up a copy of my guided journal Treasured: a journal for unearthing you.
Get weekly doses of encouragement.
Good post! We will be linking to this particularly great post on our site. Keep up the good writing. Dorella Sutherlan Wendin
Remarkable! Its genuinely awesome paragraph, I have got much clear idea about from this paragraph. Hedy Arnold Joanne
Thank you. I had a lot of fun making it, and I never thought your mom would be giddy over a knife. Lyndsie Quinn Burkitt
As soon as I noticed this site I went on reddit to share some of the love with them. Ilysa Conny Groark
Great article. I will be facing some of these issues as well.. Virginie Sherman Curt
So glad you connected with the topic! What’s your biggest takeaway?
Way cool! Some extremely valid points! I appreciate you writing this post plus the rest of the site is also really good. Georgeanne Kalil Avilla
I appreciate that! Thank you!
Thanks-a-mundo for the blog post. Much thanks again. Great. Patrice Renato Wasserman
My pleasure! Thanks for your comment.