Question Your Thoughts // The Work by Byron Katie

Is this thought true? 

Can I know for sure that it’s true? 

Who would I be without this thought? 💭

Questioning our thoughts, especially when they’re negative, is so important. 

It also helps us to notice what bothers us and, on the other hand, what makes us happy. We learn more about ourselves in the process of questioning. 

Because at the end of the day our thoughts don’t define us. It’s how we react to them and what we do with them. 

To learn more about questioning your thoughts and working with them, visit thework.com for resources. Link in bio. 

Personality --> Personal Reality

Allow your personality to define your personal reality, and not your personal reality to define your personality. 🦋

Dr. Joe Dispenza is a thought leader whose work I’ve been following for several years now. He talks a lot about how people tend to relive the memories of their past by continuously thinking about their “stories” and “truths.” People tend to allow their past experiences to define how they feel, until eventually how they feel becomes how they act and show up in the world. We must think greater than we feel. It’s hard to create something new when we are stuck in the old. 

We are not our past. We are how we choose to move forward. Instead of recreating what has already happened, allow space for creation. Start off by focusing more on what you want and not what you’ve already experienced. Meditate on those things. Create character that coincides with the reality you desire. Your daydream is your new reality. ✨

Stay In Your Lane

There’s your business, other people’s business, and then there’s G-d’s business. 

Stay in your lane and out of G-d’s business. If you can’t control something, it’s not your business. Let go and let G-d. Our knowledge and foresight are limited. He knows better. No, he knows best. 

When you come to live by the fact that you can’t and don’t need to control everything, life becomes so much more enjoyable. Learn to take things as they come and let go of what doesn’t serve you. Be grateful for the challenges because they serve their role and purpose too. Appreciate everything that comes your way. It is all leading you to where you need to be🦋

Perfection Is Not a Skill and Should Not Be Our Goal

The other week I had a chance to read a bit about this week’s Parshat Vayigash on Chabad.org and came across an interesting article comparing Joseph and Judah. Of course, there is a takeaway message that we can incorporate into our lives⤵️

🤴🏻Joseph: the unofficial kind of Egypt. Has the glory that Judah lacked. Was more handsome, successful and loved. He was perfect, but his perfection was fragile. When things broke he was unable to fix them. The Torah recounts more examples of this. 

👨🏻Judah: a peasant shepherd whose shortcomings the Torah recounts over and over. However, he has the advantage of rising back up and build himself up again when he falls. This is a skill that Joseph lacks despite all his glory and wealth.

⚖️This dichotomy continues between those who are perfect until they falter, and those who mess up time after time and can still manage to rise up again.

🗝Despite how perfect someone or something might be, it won’t matter for long if it’s fleeting. That which is lasting and durable is what defines us at the end of the day. 

⚡️It’s not about with what we are born, but rather what we make of it and present it in our lives. Those who truly win are those who can endure, persevere, “deconstruct their personalities in order to reshape them,” channel low points into growth, draw wisdom and maturity from experience, and not allow their imperfections to set them back. 

Shabbat shalom! 

New Year

 

Life vs. Death

Holding someone’s hand as they take their last breaths. 

Watching someone die on the heart monitor as their heart rate goes down until eventually you see asystole.  

Telling people that you’re sorry there was nothing more you could do to save their loved ones. 

Having people ask you if they are going to die. 

Having people ask you to tell them that you wont let them die. 

 Seeing someone you’re caring for physically decline over a period of several weeks until their chances of survival are close to none. One organ failure leads to another. Sepsis takes over. If a COVID patient, breathing gets harder to the point where one can’t without a machine. 

 As a student nurse, I had been present during several deliveries during my labor and delivery rotation. Playing a (very slight) role in a new life’s entrance into this world. As an actual nurse (in my position), sometimes all you can do is try your best to make someone’s exit as pleasant and meaningful as you can. 

The other day during my shift in the ICU, there were two thoughts I had as I took a moment to find personal closure and come to terms with the fact that my patient was gone. 

 What do I do after this experience? How does it change me? 

As weird as it sounds, it’s a privilege to have this type of eye opening and extremely honest experience that most people don’t have or get to see. It’s one of the major raw truths of (seemingly contradictory) life. 

It’s one of the most fair reminders with which we can be presented. 

Despite the sadness I felt in that moment, I also felt weirdly inspired. Someway, I felt recharged. I felt new. Perhaps because in a way for me too it felt like an end, and with an end comes a beginning. I imagined what that person had been able to achieve in their lifetime, what they worried about and what/who they loved, how they dealt with their losses and if they made a big deal out of them, if they took the time to cherish moments and people. We still have time. Our battery is not up. But the clock is still ticking for us. We don’t think about our ultimate mortality on a regular basis, but perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad if we did. Helps put things in perspective and reminds us to spend our time and energy wisely. 

As a nurse... or really in general a healthcare professional... I am constantly drawing a line between life and death. I live and think on a different realm, in a sense. I want to share these thoughts and experiences. I hope others can take something from them.

Dry Brushing

Something I’ve incorporated into my routine and that I recommend to people whenever they ask me for any additional ways to get a skincare boost. Not an expert but I’m that person who does her research on any additional health benefits people can get from alternative sources. So here are some reasons why you might want to give it a try:

🌸The mechanical action of dry brushing  exfoliates dry winter skin. 

🌸Helps detoxify the body by increasing blood circulation and promoting lymph flow/drainage. Start from your ankles and brush upward toward your heart. Then from your wrists also towards your heart. Perform about 5 strokes on each part you’re brushing. 

🌸Unclogs pores. Some report smoother skin. I like to use my dry brush with with a body scrub because the beads allow for stronger exfoliation and removal of dead skin. 

🌸Stimulates your nervous system, which can make you feel invigorated afterward. One of my favorite benefits. 

🚿Perform on dry skin before you shower. Brushing the skin while it is dry allows you to exfoliate and increase blood circulation without removing moisture, since hot water can do that. Apply lotion after your shower. 

Make The Most Of Your Twenties

Some major points I picked up reading The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter and How to Make the Most of Them

💥Invest in your identity capital- your individual resources, personal assets, investments you make in yourself. This is what we bring to the adult marketplace. How we solve problems, how we speak. This requires exploration. Have the nerve to make commitments that can help you build a stronger identity, be more resilient, and have a clearer sense of self and direction. 

👭Build your weak ties along with your strong ties. Having close friends is important, but it’s also a good idea to branch out to those outside of our comfort zone. Usually those are the people who know things we don’t and can help information and opportunity to spread faster. We limit ourselves when we huddle with only our close ties, the same people all the time. 

🧠 Create a sharp narrative of who you are. Build your story and identity off of your talents, experiences, desires, and plans. Claiming your identity and parts of it like your job or career isn’t the end, as people might assume and fear. It’s just the beginning. Making choices and choosing a direction in life are essential and shouldn’t be pushed off. 

💪🏼 Don’t be afraid of being challenged. You are passionate about what you do, but at times feel anxious and incompetent? Then you’re most likely in a solid, challenging, secure job where you and what you do actually matter. The twenties is a transitional period. Many of us have never held full time jobs before. Even the social expectations at work are different than usual. You probably wont get instantly complimented for your hard work. Twentsomethings find negative info more memorable than positive info, in comparison to older adults. The seat to the emotional brain- the amygdala- is more active during these years. As we get older, we feel more secure and grounded. It generally gets easier not to break or feel like a leaf being blown around by the wind. Learn to grow roots and stand in the wind.