I saw this image floating around the internet and it really resonated with me. Whoever created it, THANK YOU!
I hate to admit it, but as far back as I can remember, I had assumed all the things on the ‘Not My Job’ list and worked diligently to carry them out. And boy, was I good at those things!
By the age of 30, I’d learned the hard way that these were not the types of things I wanted to be good at. And after the breakdown of my first marriage, an unhealthy relationship that followed that breakup and the lack of fulfillment in my professional life as well, I turned to yoga and spirituality in the hopes of just feeling better. Only then did I begin to become aware of my misperceptions, limited beliefs and conditioned thinking.
Awareness and Acknowledgment. These are the first steps. And of course, the subsequent step of “doing the work” to get beyond our negative habits and patterns is the most challenging. But it’s absolutely do-able… I am living proof of that. 🙂
How about you? Have you assumed any of the things from the 'Not My Job' list?
If you have, I invite you right now to relinquish responsibility… they are not yours to do. By creating this deliberate intention, you will find yourself becoming more aware of when you fall into the habit of doing these things.
And if or when you do fall into a negative habit that is ‘Not Your Job’, I encourage you to...
- pause and catch yourself
- take a few full smooth breaths, and
- say to yourself, “This is not my job!" and remind yourself to:
- come from a place of LOVE,
- BE ME,
- only take the NEXT STEP right now,
- speak the TRUTH in my heart,
- and keep BREATHING!”
Can you imagine if we all just did ‘Our Jobs’? We’d not only feel better, we’d be changing the world!
I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences with this as well, so please leave a post and share.
Interesting blog. Definitely resonates with me, also. And brought back a memory that made me smile. While working in the very corporate world of health care/medicine. It was the family medicine department of a big hospital and ironically was a great big dysfunctional family system. While I would bet that everyone fell back into their familiar family roles that we take on as small children, I can only speak for myself – the family fixer, pleaser, and wanting to be liked. Somewhere along the way I learned a saying similar to above “not my circus – not my monkeys.” No, it did not help me to the time, and I left that circus years ago – continuing my own spiritual journey with Yoga being a big part of my life. Tonight as I write this, I see the circus and the monkeys differently – `I was one of the monkeys performing in that circus – and today I am taming the “monkeys” in my mind – calming them by giving them a “banana” as I return to a focused meditation and an awakened and aware life. My relationships are richer, especially with the loves of my life (my family). I am still growing and have so much to learn – gratefully. Because life is for learning.
Thank you for sharing Beth. Gaining awareness and learning from our experiences certainly makes life richer! 🙂