It’s Monday, 2.35pm and I’ve had conversations with three mums in the last 18 hours about taking radical action with their lives and families this week. This following the ‘nice Christmas?’, ‘Yeah..(weak slightly wry smile, something hanging…but with determinedly positive tone)’ conversation. Recognise it?
I’ve loved the word radical since I was 17 years old, studying Martin Luther and the German reformation. Radix meaning ‘root’, the essence, what’s inherent and vital.
And maybe after the overwhelm of the Christmas season, as mothers we need more acutely to heed the call of the radical. Let’s face it, we’ve just lived out the tension between vision (peace, harmony, goodwill, community) and reality (you fill in the ‘family Christmas = ________ ‘ blank ).
Other continua on which we are strung out, feeling the yank in both directions:
activity – rest materialism – contentment stuff – people
You feel it, I know you do. I do too. You feel the inexorable pull towards the ‘left’, whilst straining to resist the tide, to stand your ground. You’re amazing – it takes muscle and concentration right? So how to move towards what you you really want?
Read on for 5 ways to be the unexpected radical in your own life this week….
- Set your intention; write it down in colour, on paper, as the week/season/year begins. One of my clients uses this as a regular Sunday evening practice to ‘structure’ her week towards what she most wants? What do you most want this week or year or even for the darker months ahead? What is your heart’s greatest urge? Is it to be closer to your daughter. If so, you will seek opportunities to connect and be in her world with her and sacrifice other activities/people in order to do that. If it’s to grow your business in a new direction, the very clarity of your intention will shed light on the connections you need. We will move in the direction we point our thoughts. We know that right? And yet how often do we actively choose?
- Tell someone – your life partner, business partner of your intention and what action is already flowing from it. Ask them to help you by asking you what good choices you have made this week?
- Paint it on the bathroom tiles, tattoo it up your inner arm and write it on your heart so you can check in with yourself.
- Prune your life tree radically, so that what’s new can flourish. Get help thinking through what activity is really aligned with your calling (the shoots and buds with space and light around them) and what is not (the brambles). What can you commit into the capable hands of others? Even better, what is it that only you in your wildly precious uniqueness can do? As a recovering “I can hold it better, so had better hold it all” type, I’m learning that somewhere I made it all up. Sweet freedom. January is the perfect time to do some pruning as it corresponds for most of us, metabolically at least, with a mini hibernation – keep warm, eat soup, focus on the core.
- Seek out the company, now, of those with the same intention. Use online communities if you like that sort of thing. There are a gazillion people longing for exactly what you long for. Or feel the warm bodies and smiles of those who really ‘get’ you. Perhaps that means thoughtfully choosing what and who you’re saying ‘yes’ to this year.
For support in your intention-setting, pruning and making space and light in the right places, read about coaching perfectly designed for you. Radical, rooted, blooming change.
What or who are you saying ‘yes’ to this season? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the ‘over to you’ space below…
Kate x
PS. Pass it on.
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