self-growth / waiting-periods of life
hi again friends! after taking a much needed step back from everything (which has been surprisingly harder than I thought even with quarantine) i’ve been able to truly reflect on things happening in the world recently, dive deeper into my spirituality, and really just step back and take a look in the mirror at myself which in part revealed what part of my life i’m in and what drives my thoughts and/or behaviors. I like to call it the “self-growth” or “waiting-periods” of life; where we are aware of what we want in the future or who we want to be, but aren’t quite there to the point of achieving it and working on the next future goal.
kevin and I have had many conversations about this and finding happiness and purpose in the waiting periods of your life can be hard so having such a self-aware and encouraging partner makes all the difference.
here are just a few things I have found helpful during these times…
- distancing myself from all forms of social media. my personal trigger that I find myself in the most overly involved in is instagram for sure. social media disrupts my connection with nature, my thoughts, my individuality, and my self-esteem. even if only for a couple of days, a detox is so important.
- time to explore and spend time doing my hobbies. one of my favorite hobbies is to read. it is a time of quietness and escape for me. I try to carve out at least 30 minutes a night of uninterrupted time for this. what I love about this hobby is that I don’t feel pressured to read certain books, I just login to my barnes and noble account and start finding subjects that interest me.
- setting goals (long-term/short-term). I think we’ve all set goals at some point. what ever became of them? what steps were made and/or followed through to achieve those goals? when I journal I make a list of short term (one year or less), long term (over one year), and life goals. I then try to break down what steps need to be achieved before that goal can be a reality. setting goals also helps me to reflect on the root of certain behaviors in my life and what they have done to get me closer to my goals or that set me back from my goals. finishing college for example was a necessary step for me in my own self-growth journey that I have achieved recently.
- spending family time together. this is such a quintessential area of my life. family time together just lifts my spirit in such a great way. I love bonding with kevin and sierra, learning all of their personalities, quirks, and becoming closer to them. for Christmas last year I actually gave them each personalized bonding activities to do throughout 2020 (which have clearly been affected by COVID-19), so we are improvising with lots of movie and game nights.
after implementing these four areas of reflection, planning, and carved out time into my days, it has provided so much peace, clarity, and purpose during these times of waiting. let me know what you would like to see from me or any questions you might have by messaging me on my instagram: simplyemilyfelt . I’m basically an open book and I love sharing my story with others. thanks for the love and support always!
xoxo, em