Saturday, February 28, 2009

Uplifting Experiences

The true measure of a conference/lecture/class/etc. to me is how I feel when it is complete. Do I feel overwhelmed and discouraged or do I feel uplifted and refreshed? It seems like I seek out the latter in most venues: movies, books, friends. There are few things as refreshing as having an uplifting experience. Today I had one. My stake had a Home Family and Personal Enrichment Day where Julie DeAzevedo Hanks gave a workshop presentation about Preventing Emotional Burnout. So many points rang true to me that I thought I would just share some highlights.


1-Feel & express full range of emotions: express your emotions in an appropriate healthy way.


2-Give yourself permission to say NO: "Stress is when your gut says NO but your lips say certainly". YOU are the BROKER of your time and energy. When you say NO to something, you are saying YES to something more important.


3-Do your emotional family history


4-Take responsibility for your own happiness: create a NO GUILT zone. There should be no guilt for having "me" time. It is not selfish it is selfCARE. Find your line between Righteous Joy and Selfish indulgence. Incorporate something in your life that brought you pure joy as a child. (I STILL want to be a dancer!!)


5-Practice being kind to yourself: Save guilt for SIN. Look at your body as an instrument not an ornament. The changes in your body as you grow and age are beautiful gifts and marks of what you have done and created, they are part of "God's Signature" collection. (Julie has a song that talks about this, LOVED IT). The definition of Perfect is NOT to be flawless, it is to be "ripe, mature, complete". Be as kind to yourself as you are to your garden as you watch it "ripen, mature" and reach it's potential. Nurture yourself. Christ will make OUR way perfect--we don't have to be perfect, we have to just be ourselves and He will make our way perfect, He brings us to our potential.


6-Learn to ask for and accept help: PRIDE keeps us from asking for and receiving help. We are instructed to bare ONE ANOTHER's burdens, not bare EVERYBODY ELSE'S burdens. We need others in order to fulfill that commandment.


Good stuff! I want to practice loving myself and being kind to myself so my daughters will model that behavior and love themselves. Be kind to yourselves my friends!

10 comments:

Lisa said...

Thanks so much for this post. This is something so many of us need to be reminded of on a daily basis. It was an uplifting day for me as well. Julie is amazing and what a blessing to have her here today. So glad you were there.
Love ya
Lisa

Tracie said...

What an amazing opportunity! I love her as well! Thanks for sharing her thought and yours for those of us who weren't there! I will have to re-read this often! (((hug)))! You are amazing!

Lera said...

I also thought the workshop was amazing! I came away from it feeling lightened and refreshed. Thanks for posting a recap and your thoughts, so that I could revisit the lessons she taught.

Kelly said...

I really enjoyed reading that! Thanks for sharing!! I think each one of those applies to me.

Brian_n_Amy said...

I also really enjoyed it! I almost didn't go. It was amazing and a lot of things really hit home for me. Thanks for saying hi to me when I first got there. It really made me feel a little better. You're awesome Tennisa. Thanks for your example.

pam said...

Ah, Tennisa! I'm sitting here feeling all good again after reading your post! I LOVED that workshop. I seriously have thought about it SO much since then. It was amazing, hu? I am totally working on some lifestyle changes. I loved it! Thanks for letting me go with you!

joey said...

So great! Every women needs those reminders.

jenn said...

Thanks for sharing! What wonderful reminders. You are a great Mom and a teriffic example to your daughters and others {me}!

Brett and Meredith said...

Such a great, UPLIFTING, post! Thank you for sharing. Looks like you guys have had a lot of fun things going on this winter! Love all the pictures. Your kids are so darling.

Sara said...

Love these thoughts! Thanks for sharing!