Inhale. exhale. zest

What do you need to say yes to?

Photo by arianka ibarra on Unsplash

When you find yourself in a cycle of life where you don’t know what happened to your spark, trying to cultivate the quality of zest can feel almost impossible!

You barely have the energy to roll out of bed and start your day, never mind mustering up any sense of enthusiasm for the life you feel like you don’t fit into anymore.  

You may have been told to start doing things that bring you joy.  But when you go to do those things, the truth is, you just feel like you’re going through the motions.  In your head you are thinking, “this should bring me joy”, and then a wave of guilt, shame or indifference sets in followed by an impulse to crawl back under the covers.

So I’m going to let you off the hook today.  I’m not going to tell you to start doing things that bring you joy.  Most likely, the things that used to bring you joy just aren’t cutting it for you anymore anyways.  And that’s ok!  There is another way . . .

Let’s shift the focus a bit.

Instead of doing a bunch of things that “should” bring you joy, but just aren’t, start to think about this - what is draining your energy?

One of the reasons we lose touch with our spark is that we spend so much of our energy doing things that drain us of our precious life force and not enough things that fuel our fire.  When we live day to day, week to week and year to year in this pattern, it eventually leads to burn out.

And if you are noticing yourself in this place of burn out, I’d like to offer you the perspective that this is actually a good thing!  I know it doesn’t feel like it.  It feels awful.  However, if you are reading this article and resonating with what I’ve said so far, it means you are aware something is amiss, and awareness is the first step towards finding your spark again!

A loss of zest for life is your Soul communicating with you to connect with her. She is asking you to re-evaluate how you are spending your energy and to consider what needs to change.

And change is hard when you don’t feel like you have the energy to do it, so be easy on yourself.  The small steps you take now will pay off.  Down the road, when you look back on where this journey back to your spark began, you will thank yourself for deciding to take those first few steps.

Many times, the hardest thing to do when you are starting to move away from the things that drain you is to learn the lesson of saying “no”.

When you say “no” to the things that are draining you, what you are really saying is “yes” to creating space to connect with your spark.

Remember, the practice of saying yes to tending to your own spark is worth pursuing, because those tiny shifts, day after day after day, are what will start to fan the flames of your spark, until one day you find yourself waking up with a renewed zest for life once again!

Right now, start with finding a bit more balance.  Can you love yourself enough to do less things that are draining your energy and save some of that precious life force for yourself?

This week consider . . .

What do you need to say yes to?

With Love,
Kristen
​XO