What Are You Making It Mean?
In my line of work, I am often reminded that we never know what someone is going through.
That person at the gym who seems unfriendly may have just been blindsided by a divorce after 21 years of marriage. The person who cut you off in traffic could be so consumed with worry about her child having no friends that she didn't even realize she did it.
We all take turns at being the one with the hard thing happening. Many turns, over the course of a life.
And yet when a stranger is rude or inconsiderate, our brains often default to annoyance. We go to a story about what kind of person they are. We replay it. We tell someone about it later. We let it follow us around for the rest of the day.
Here's what that costs you: your energy.
Dr. Becky Kennedy, author of Good Inside, calls the alternative MGI — the Most Generous Interpretation. Instead of defaulting to judgment, you pause and ask: what is the most charitable explanation for this person's behavior right now? She describes it as a muscle. One you have to train in calm moments so you can actually use it when you need it.
The person who cut you off forgot about it immediately. You're still thinking about it at dinner.
What if you just assumed she was having the hardest week of her life — and let it go?
Same drive home. Completely different experience.
HOT OFF THE PRESS
“When was the last time you truly rested without feeling guilty or thinking about everything you “should” be doing?”
A lot of high-achieving women live with the belief that rest has to be earned. And while that mindset may help you succeed for a while, eventually it leaves you exhausted, overwhelmed, and constantly running on empty.
Because even when you stop, your brain never really does.
The belief that you always have to be “doing” in order to be enough quietly steals your energy, peace, and ability to fully relax.
The good news is beliefs can be changed, starting now. You have permission to rest.
Check out episode 252 here: https://tinyurl.com/OWWPod.
“There's always this next season when you're going to be calm. And yet, here you are at the start of the one you've been waiting for, and the overwhelm followed you there, too.”
So many women enter summer feeling hopeful - which lasts for about 48 hours before reality sets in.
Instead of school logistics, it becomes camp logistics. Instead of packed schedules, it’s the exhausting “no schedule” schedule. Work somehow still feels just as demanding, except now everyone is trying to juggle vacations.
Summer feels like the season you’re supposed to enjoy. You’re supposed to be relaxed. Present. Making memories. But if you’re already worried this summer is going to disappear the same way every other season does — busy, distracted, overwhelmed, and guilty for not enjoying it more — this episode will feel like someone finally put words to what you’ve been carrying.
Listen to episode 253 here: https://tinyurl.com/OWWPod!
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Worried that this summer is going to be the exact same as summers past - full of guilt and overwhelm, just with different footwear?
Set up a free 45-minute consultation with me here - we'll look at exactly what is driving your overwhelm, and I'll show you exactly what it would look like to change in order to have your best summer ever.