Does your capacity to give, in all the many ways you need to give, feel greatly diminished?
You can’t give what you don’t have.
Or, as a coworker recently reminded me, you can’t pour from an empty cup.
If you want to give your best, then it’s critical that you learn to fill your own cup.
My Story
I was having a conversation with a coworker who was physically and mentally empty.
She was doing the best she could to juggle all the traditional roles of a woman, as well as work full time.
Most of the time, she felt that her best was never good enough.
Despite the demands on her time, she had decided to meet a friend and go out to eat.
What she said was “You can’t pour from an empty cup, and I’m trying to get better at filling my cup.”
Hurrah for her!
We are each responsible for making sure our cup is filled. No one can do it for us.
When you give from a position of being mentally and physically empty, everyone loses.
We can all strive to be better at filling our cup!
Be intentional about learning to fill your own cup.
Give some genuine thought to what really fills your cup.
Self-care doesn’t look the same for everyone and it’s your job to know what works for you.
Think about what brings you joy and helps you relax.
These are things that are completely personal so don’t rely on an internet search to put together a list.
I love to read. Reading is like a mini vacation for me. For someone else, reading might be pure torture.
Know what’s right for you and then figure out how to work it into your day or week.
Know what tends to drain you to begin with.
Knowing something drains you mentally or physically allows you to be intentional about problem solving the issue.
For me, a lack of sleep is both a physical and mental drain.
Waking up to a messy kitchen instantly drains me mentally.
Keeping both in check is often a hard balancing act.
But knowing this about myself enables me to structure my evening so that most of the time I am able to enjoy both.
Saying yes to yourself sometimes means saying no to someone or something else.
That’s not selfish, that’s self-preservation.
You can work at the spring carnival without having to be an organizer.
Taking a turn in the nursery does not mean you have to step up to be the coordinator.
Brian and I just recently declined a wedding invitation. My first instinct was that we needed to go. But after giving it some thought, we both concluded that it was ok to decline.
Quit automatically saying yes out of habit.
Master the phrase, “let me think about it”.
Don’t rely on services to fill your cup.
Massages, manicures, and pedicures definitely have a place on the self-care spectrum.
They are services that make us look good and feel good.
But they can’t and won’t fill your cup on a regular basis.
Think of them more like the whipped cream on the top of an already filled cup.
Enjoy them for the treats that they are.
Regularly have a “cup check”.
I recently ran across this term, and I love it.
Every single day take a minute for a “cup check”.
If you’re feeling empty, figure out what got you there and what needs to happen to fix the situation.
Some seasons of life are simply draining.
You can’t wish those seasons away, you can’t change the situation, but you can determine the way you respond.
Even during the most draining seasons of life, there are small things you can do to make sure your cup stays full.
Does your capacity to give, in all the many ways you need to give, feel greatly diminished?
For both your mental and physical well-being, take the time and make the effort to fill your own cup.
********************
TAKE ACTION!!!
Sign up for Micki’s Little Letter
Like It? Share It! It’s a little thing that means a lot to me!
********************