I was a Girl Scout. As you may know, the Girl Scout motto is to “Be Prepared.”
Sometimes my Girl Scout tendencies are in conflict with my professional organizer persona! This is a conversation that might go on between these two parts of my identity:
Girl Scout: “You might need that cane! What if you trip and fall?”
Professional Organizer: “Even if you were to trip and fall that cane that your grandmother used would not be a good choice. She was 5″ 3′ and you are 5″ 8′! Plus your insurance will cover a new, and better cane if and when you trip and fall.”
If you have two or more identities that argue with each other, a good way to sort them out is to practice mindfulness. As you contemplate an item (such as a walker or cane), part of you may want to let it go and part of you may want to keep it. Be mindful of what you feel. Is there tension in any part of your body? How is your breath?
Notice emotional associations as you look at the item. Something that reminds you of your grandmother is lovely. But maybe she didn’t even like her walker, and used to complain about it! Some items are clearly associated with happiness and joy, while others are associated with negativity. However, many items bring up a combination of feelings. In these cases, mindfulness is a powerful tool to help you sort through these feelings, and decide which ones are most true for you now.
Only you can decide whether or not to keep something, and your criteria will certainly change over time. The important thing to remember is that there is energy connecting us to everything we own.
When that energy is positively charged, it adds buoyancy and openness to our lives. When it is negatively charged, it can bring us down and keep us stuck. As Joe Vitale puts it,
“You want to become aware of your thoughts, you want to choose your thoughts carefully, and you want to have fun with this, because you are the masterpiece of your own life.”
Do you have identities or parts that sometimes conflict with one another? Next time such a conflict occurs, try using mindfulness to support yourself!
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I love this post so much. This conflict between “be prepared” vs. “be joyful” is a constant feature of my life. Thanks for putting it in words that can help me think about whether my “stuff” will truly help me “be prepared”.
So glad to hear that! So many of us have struggle between different parts of our personalities…