|
You Can’t Water a Garden With an Empty Bucket - Self-Care for Women
by Catherine A. Bruns
Women who are around me hear me say this all the
time – ‘You can’t water a garden with an empty bucket’. What does
this mean to you? I use it as an illustration to get the point
across that women are taking care of work and everyone else and
fitting themselves into the little, tiny cracks of time that are
leftover – if there are any. So how lush and gorgeous is the garden
that gets watered with an empty bucket? Not! How well can you take
care of the important people and tasks in your life when your energy
bucket is bone dry? Not well, at least not for long. When you are
considering your own energy bucket it’s important to know what fills
it up and what depletes it. Read on to learn the 5 questions to ask
yourself so you know how to fill up your bucket.
1. What brings you joy? How much of what you do during your day
brings you joy? How often do you purposely add joy to your life? For
some, work is joy, but for most it’s far from it. Make a list of
what it is that brings you joy – a child’s smile, dancing, coffee
with friends, sex. Keep it handy, so if you get really overwhelmed
you can have a quick reminder. Joy puts energy in our bucket.
2. What’s your natural energy level? For a woman who is more active
in her energy, having a lot of quiet down time may actually deplete
her bucket. If you think of it like a spectrum, with naturally low
energy as a 1 and naturally high energy as a 10, where do you see
yourself? Answer this question as you truly are not how you want to
be.
3. What is your current pace? Now that you know your natural energy
level, evaluate the pace of your current energy output. Use the same
1 to 10 scale. Are you a natural energy 4 going at the pace of a 9?
Or are you a natural energy 9, going at the pace of a 4? Work on
getting your pace oriented towards your natural level of energy. We
talk a lot about women being way to busy in our world (which is
true), but you can also get too bored. Neither extremes put energy
in your bucket.
4. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Does being around people
energize you or deplete you? If it energizes you then you
essentially are an extrovert. Extroverts fill their bucket by being
around people. Introverts generally recharge by being alone or with
one other person. So, if you’re an introverted women who works with
a lot of people all day, getting some serious alone time will help
to fill your bucket.
5. How are you maintaining your machine? Not your car, your
computer, or even your IPod – but, your body! Your body is a big
part of your bucket and it needs proper care and feeding in order to
do its best job. It’s amazing to me how many women I work with who
don’t eat breakfast. And, who don’t drink water during the day
because they don’t want to take the time to go to the bathroom. What
about sleep? Getting enough? Probably not. These are the basics. You
can get 100 pedicures to take care of yourself, but if you’re
constantly dehydrated and your brain isn’t getting proper nutrition,
then life is still going to seem hard. Make a true assessment of how
you’re doing in the care and feeding of your body.
Everyone’s bucket is different, which is why I’m giving you
questions to ask yourself rather than the top 5 ways to fill your
bucket. However, if you’d like some more specifics or new ideas on
how to get energy flowing into your bucket, then check in at my blog,
The Balanced Living Journal http://www.balancedlivingjournal.blogspot.com,
where I’ll be regularly posting some very specific bucket filling
ideas. What’s a blog, you ask? Go back to the newsletter and read
the ‘Soapbox’ section to find out.
About the author:
Copyright 2005 Catherine A. Bruns. This article may be reprinted in
full with the following attached: Life Coach Catherine Bruns coaches
women to success in their personal and professional goals. For more
information visit
http://www.coachbalance.com
|
