Encouraging Military Spouses to Breathe on Their Paths to Success
So many spouses struggle with taking enough me time as they are taking care of everyone else, but it’s so important. When my kids were little I used to just love a quiet shower where I could think and today I have learned to get over the guilt of leaving the kids an hour here and there to go workout or take a walk and just contemplate my goals and check in with myself. I notice that the more I carve out this free time, the more productive I am so its actually an investment versus a time waster and the more breaks I take, the further along I get in my career and my relationships. Try out some of my tips and let me know if you find any helpful.
1. Design Sacred Spaces That Inspire You
Great environments energize us in different ways. Maybe you are a military spouse who works from home and your intuition leads you to transform your work day into a spa-like experience with incense, a fountain, and classical music playing. The redesign I did of my own office is another example: I wanted my office in town to feel like a bed and breakfast, so I lined the walls with books and I displayed different flavored teas for my clients to choose from. Most importantly, the office space feels like an extension of who I am.
2. Use Sacred Moments As Motivation
I love the feeling we get when we catch ourselves totally “in the moment.” For me, this happens when I become completely engaged in watching one of my son’s baseball games or listening to the National Anthem. Start noticing when you lose track of time and completely embrace the present moment. Imagine living like that more often. As you begin paying attention to when you are in flow, it will become easier and easier to wrap that feeling up and bring it along with you on your journey toward success. This feeling will reassure you that, when you experience joyful surroundings, you can hang on to them to accompany you on your journey.
3. Use Sacred Space As Reminders
Think about the places you go that bring you to a higher level of awareness and imagine taking that feeling with you even when you are no longer in that physical place. Many of us relax when we walk on the beach but we aren’t sure how to take that feeling home with us. I find that having symbols in our homes can help us remember such sacred moments. The more we recognize the places where we feel at one with ourselves, the easier it is to surround ourselves with visual reminders. These sacred symbols are important, but they will be different for everyone. What symbols, meaningful artwork, favorite seashells, or family heirlooms can you look at daily to remind you of your dreams? Try reminding yourself that you are on your way to success.
4. Use Sacred Space To Solve Problems
Creating space between you and whatever problem or challenge you may be facing allows time for meditative reflection. When we are stressed out, our rational selves shut down, but sacred spaces help cultivate our intuitive problem solving abilities. This space can be filled with meditation or prayer, reading, or writing. Reading opens your mind to different perspectives, and writing in a journal often triggers your subconscious to begin coming up with a solution.
Sometimes, inviting coaches and counselors into this sacred place can help you discover a new direction or assist you in pushing past that proverbial knowing/doing gap. Sacred spaces can remind your intuition to follow a hunch, motivate you to take a leap forward, or just deepen your sense of self and reassure you that you are headed in the right direction.
5. Allow Sacred Space To Build Faith
Faith involves believing in the unseen; this includes having faith in your health, faith in your work, and faith in your relationships. Carving out a sacred space for faith can be paramount to your overall success and life satisfaction. Consider what environment best supports your time with God. For some people, it’s a religious building, for others, it’s nature, or even a journal by their bedside. Think about times when your intuition was clear and you felt most connected and supported; seek such times and environments to allow your mind to ponder what you really want. Listen for clues, follow your intuition, and recognize the small wins that will inevitably continue to strengthen your faith.
As your faith increases, you will get clearer ideas about what you want to do next and be able to trust that life is unfolding gracefully before your eyes. The more you pay attention to these blessings, the more effortlessly you will believe that there is more good to come, which is a sacred, optimistic process embraced by mature individuals.
Remain Open to the Possibilities of Sacred Time and Space
As you begin to experience the benefits of these moments of solitude, you may crave even more sacred time. You will experience “losing yourself” in physical and mental space more effortlessly and you can practice directing this feeling toward various aims to achieve the lifestyle you desire. For example, you can package the productive feeling your home office exudes by packing up your laptop, smooth-flowing pen, and favorite leather-bound journal in your attaché and hitting the road for a coffee house where you can purposefully recreate the same blissful moment you had at home.
Recognize that the sacred spaces that exist all around you also live deep within you. As you embrace sacred spaces more and more, you will experience more positive vibrations, and you will recognize your goals much more effortlessly and abundantly.