I was in a listening session with my phone group, and I just broke down with a feeling of being totally overwhelmed by all I have taken on in my life. Day job, launching a book/business, parenting, nurturing my self and my marriage, keeping on top of household tasks, etc.
The list goes on. And, my son was sick. Again.
As I cried, I remembered the recent Hand in Hand blog post about the Traveling Rescue Squad. Several sobs in I cried, “I need the Rescue Squad!”
My call facilitator replied with a resounding, “Yes!”
“Tell us what we can take off your plate,” she suggested.
Even though it felt a bit silly, I went with it, “Okay, you can have my day job!” I said loudly. “It is not what I want to focus on. I don’t want to provide Band-aids. I want to help people. I want to provide information and help build skills!”
“What else can we do for you?” she probed.
“Well, you can have the laundry, and all the cleaning. I hate cleaning.” It felt great even to just imagine handing over the tasks I dislike.
“What else?”
“You can have the dishes too, and my husband's plowing duties. We’ve had so much snow.”
“What else?”
“Sometimes, you can take my oldest son and play so I can rest. I am so tired.”
This went on until my time had ended and I was AMAZED by how much lighter I felt after just pretending that I had a lessened load. When I relayed this experience to a friend, I remembered a tidbit from a recent meeting of my ongoing facilitation class: “When asked to imagine that something is true, the mind sends a message to the body to feel as if it were so.”
Even if it only lasts for a few minutes, this is a great gift.
– a Parenting by Connection mother in Maine