Aspire Magazine: Inspiration for a Woman's Soul.(TM) Feb/Mar 2020 Aspire Magazine FULL Issue | Page 37

7. You feel like you are existing rather than living. Feeling overwhelmed with life’s demands can happen seemingly overnight. One minute you are giving your time and talents with joy and the next minute you feel like you’ve been run over by a bulldozer. You’ve lost your spark, your passion and your zest for life. You feel ready to throw in the towel, climb back into bed and sleep the days away. A good start at this juncture is to lay down, close your eyes and listen to your heart. Ask yourself, “What is it that I need to know right here, right now to reignite my passion for life?” Then, just listen. It may take a little while, but just the intention and the question are enough to get your intuition involved in bringing forth the right feelings, words, metaphors or conditions to show you what is needed. Ask and it is given – you just need to be ready to see, hear or feel what will be revealed to you. Life is a beautiful journey of hills and valleys and sometimes cul-de-sacs and round- abouts. It is never a straight line and thus, there are many things hidden from our view as we round corners or double-back after a detour. The point is to enjoy it all – the ups, the downs and the in-betweens all while taking excellent care of yourself and serving others through your gifts and talents. There will never be a time when everything on our to-do lists are done so why wait to schedule time for yourself to enjoy self-care, a hobby or a day off. Make time for yourself each day even if you only have 10 minutes. A morning meditation, a walk around the block, a few minutes in the bathroom by yourself to collect your thoughts, or a mindful few minutes moving your body to music can all do wonders for improving your ability to recognize what matters most in your life. Once you are aware of what is most important, you can begin to let other obligations go and take back your power to choose how you really want to spend your most precious gift – time. Cheers to your success! Colleen Elaine - Rapid Transformational Therapist (RTT) and Reiki Level II Practitioner Colleen Elaine supports women in mastering their mindset, releasing their false beliefs and claiming their inner light. Merging her expert skills and intuitive abilities, Colleen guides and compassionately supports clients, using the powerful Rapid Transformational Therapy processes, to excavate the root cause of the issue holding them back. Colleen is an Expert Instructor for Inspired Living University™, bestselling coauthor, and contributor to Aspire Magazine. Claim your REPLENISH! Meditation Gift Set at www.ColleenElaine.com. may not even realize there is a better way. Scheduling self-care first, before any other obligations, is paramount to you being at your best so that you can serve others from a spirit of good will and kindness. As is said frequently, “You cannot give from an empty cup”. Please fill your cup first and fill it often. Otherwise, you are depleting your natural resources. We all long to be needed and establishing balance in the arena of giving and receiving will free up some time for you to practice whatever self-care essentials make your heart sing. Just think of self- care as oxygen – if you consistently give it out, breathing only out and never taking a breath in, you will cease to exist. We all must breathe in as well as out to stay alive and giving and receiving is no different; there must be balance. Go ahead and make a list now of what your non-negotiable self- care time looks like and schedule it on your calendar.