We need to. When we don't change the oil in our cars, it becomes a thick, sludgy mess. The same is true of our minds, hearts and souls. If we just keep trying to fill our tanks with more "stuff" without stepping back, clearing out and resetting, we too become depleted and emotionally toxic.
Here are some lessons we can learn from car maintenance:
1. PURPOSE: We take care of our cars because they fulfill a PURPOSE - take us to work, shuffle kids back and forth to soccer, cart goods and furniture from Costco. Do we have the same sense of purpose about our own lives? If we know why we wake up every day, what we want in life and where we are headed, we are more likely to take care of ourselves. If someone tries to zap our energy or derail our plans, our purpose keeps us on track. Our purpose allows us to let things go because we know they aren't important. Remembering our purpose is like an oil change - it realigns us, helps us clear out the gunk and helps us stay CLEAR about what matters. (ps - if you need help finding your purpose, contact me at carin@carinrockind.com!)
2. KEEP COOLANT (POSITIVITY) FULL: The boss gives us a new project at 4:59 on a Friday...someone took the last cup of coffee without making more... our neighbor left trash out for the squirrels to make a mess - again... ARRGGHH. Life is full of daily frustrations that boil our blood. Stress causes our bodies to fill with toxic levels of cortisol that can lead to disease. A full tank of coolant keeps our cars from overheating. A full tank of positivity can do the same. When we have more positive in life, it helps us better deal with the negative. But the negative is more powerful, so we need to load up on the positive. Take time to tell the people you love that you appreciate them. Take time to play with kids or puppies. Find 5 minutes to relax in the sunshine. Filling our tanks with gratitude, love, joy, and serenity keeps us from overheating. (For a warm laugh, watch this wedding video)
3. CHOOSING POSITIVE THINKING: Negative thinking impacts our entire body. Pessimism can take as many years off our life as smoking! So when the boss gives us that late assignment, or our neighbor stinks up the neighborhood, what do we think? Do we blame, overgeneralize, and mind-read? When our work is rejected, or we are let go, do we personalize, feel ashamed and go into a downwards spiral, thinking we'll never be good enough? These harmful negative thinking traps are damaging. But we have a choice. We can choose to see setbacks as permanent, pervasive and personal (and get overheated like a RED light) - OR - we can choose to see a challenge as temporary, one-time and not personal (GREEN LIGHT). Studies show that seeing a setback as a challenge instead of a threat leads to greater success. We must see a challenge as temporary, remind ourselves of our strengths, skills and passion and reset to our purpose so that we KEEP GOING! A few key lessons from taking care of our cars to better help us take care of ourselves!
Carin
Great post! I love the analogy of purpose to an oil change (clearing out the gunk indeed!).I think I see challenge differently. I see having challenge as integral to leading a life of purpose. Are we saying the same or different things? Jacquie Mc
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