Personal Satisfaction

Your Challenge Today:

Personal satisfaction

By Bernadette Kathryn, LMT, IHLC

Personal satisfaction is the most important

ingredient of success.

~ Denis Waitley

The essential ingredient of success is personal satisfaction … a powerful statement. Personal happiness is something that we all can strive for within everything we do. Am I satisfied with my work, efforts, achievements? Did I do my best work on this project? Am I willing to sign my name to this work of art?

Being able to say “I did my best” and mean it, is what brings personal satisfaction to me. And, truthfully ~ I cannot say that I am 100% all of the time, some days I only have 80% to give and giving 100% of the 80% is what is necessary. I see people work so hard to give 100% all the time and dig down into themselves to go the distance when sometimes that can be a mistake. When you are feeling under the weather, you have a slight cold, you did not have a good night’s sleep, you had a worrisome experience with a loved one, and then you try to give 100% to your workout ~ it’s a mistake. Offering more than you have is an honorable desire with an unrealistic result. When we provide too much, we are over-extended, and over-extending can lead to injury, illness, and depression; it’s a game you will not win.

When we are young(er) we can go beyond our limits and stay up all night without too much physical repercussion, it does take a toll on our bodies, but we rebound more quickly. I don’t recommend it, and yet there are times when it must be done, OK that’s life. However, if we are consistently playing a game of giving and give and give without taking time to replenish the well, we will break down. Our bodies and spirits are not meant to give endlessly without refueling and restoring. We need sleep, love, food, water and time for our soul. This giving game is most familiar to women who feel a need to care for everyone and put themselves last and somehow time for them seems to shrink.

I remember long ago thinking about this and wondering why some people are perpetually resentful. I realized that we as humans need to give to yourself, we cannot always be giving to others without replenishing our well. I thought of it as a refrigerator — silly I know but, if you are feeding the whole house and neighborhood from your fridge, eventually you will run out of food and need to go shopping, right? Well, that is a simplistic example of what we do with ourselves. We have to go to church, meditate, take time to enjoy our friends, sleep, get a mani-pedi, go to the movies, have some laughs and enjoy some quiet time to care for our soul. We must hold ourselves to a standard of grace, not perfection. We cannot be everything to everyone; we are only human. We can do our best and give 100% of what we have in the tank and no more until we refill the well. We have to take care of ourselves, (body, mind, and spirit) if we are going to be any good to anyone in our lives.

When the resentment builds up in us, when we feel used, and abused — we most likely have an empty well. We, you, me — we all have to find a place in our heart to practice ~ healthy selfishness, personal self-care~ the kind of care that allows us to take care of ourselves responsibly. Being responsible for ourselves is the best strategy for creating personal satisfaction. When our well is full, we can be there for our loved ones, and we can give more to our workouts without risking illness or injury.