I had an appointment that ended early and I found myself with 50 free minutes. It was like finding a 50 dollar bill in a pocket! My mind raced through all the options. I could take a short nap, I could take a walk in the beautiful Spring air, I could read, get online, scroll social media, or play games on my phone. There may have been other options, but those were the ones that went through my mind in rapid succession.
Then I stopped and thought about what really matters to me- what do I really value? I value my health so a walk or nap would be great. I value learning so reading, getting online, and some social media could be useful. Some games might fit into that category too. But what I settled on was something that didn't come up at first.
Weeds. Tall, numerous, and getting ready to choke my garden area.
I value my health and learning, but I also value order in my garden. As a plus, I was able to improve my relationship with my husband. Those two aren't mutually exclusive, even though it appears that way. He loves order in the yard even more than I do. He is a school teacher and doesn't have a lot of time to putter in the garden. That's why there were so many weeds. Both of us had full schedules that didn't include weeding as a top ranking task.
But I had 50 free minutes.
I decided that I would rather serve him in this way and have some satisfaction myself. So I got out my gloves and a shovel and went to work. The ground was soft from days of rain and that made the weeds easy to eliminate. The air was pleasant. The sky was cloudy and there was a cool breeze blowing. I wasn't out there in the heat and humidity, I was in the pleasant coolness. I completely enjoyed the unusual weather for my "service project." I got to enjoy my new wind chimes blowing in the breeze too.
It took me 45 minutes to pull the weeds and I had 5 left over to record a short video of the results, clean up, and put the weeds in a place where they wouldn't choke my plants. It was the best possible use of my time and I felt a huge relief that it was done. You know who was even more happy about it? My husband. His reaction was the best part. I love being able to take some small thing off his plate once in a while.
Sometimes acting according to your deepest desires and values is going to turn out great. You will have satisfaction and praise, like I did. It's great to have all those things come together at once. But what about when it's a sacrifice? What about when you are acting on your deepest desires and values and it's hard, grueling, and just not much fun?
That's where I can help.
We can discover together how to do what you really desire even when it feels like a sacrifice. Even when someone judges your behavior. Even when you feel like what you really value is not as important as taking care of what others want or need.
Book a conversation with me and let's get started.
