Hi educators, my name is Elaine Proulx and I am a former elementary school teacher turned Health & Wellness Coach on a mission to help purpose-driven professionals find harmony between their desire to make a difference in the world and their need to nourish themselves without guilt so they can live well now and continue to impact the world for decades to come.
Last week during a guided self-compassion meditation, I was told to bring to mind someone who needed compassion. My first thought was I need compassion right now. My second thought was Wow, that’s selfish.
Thankfully, I caught myself and recognized that I DID need some self-compassion at that moment otherwise I would not have been able to show up fully for everything I had to do that day.
There’s a lot of hard stuff going on in education and the world right now. It’s easy to minimize and ignore our own pain and suffering to be of service to others…until it isn’t.
When I ignore or distract myself from the suffering, it doesn’t just go away. It slowly derails all my good intentions and habits that keep me physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually well until I give it (or it forces me to give) the attention, love, and compassion it needs to heal.
And this is true for any challenge we face — stress, indigestion, fitful sleep, physical aches and pains, negative thoughts, loneliness. Every once in a while, the issue resolves itself. But usually, it needs something more.
As people who want to impact others and the world, we tend to put our needs last because there’s someone or something else that “needs us more.” This is not an effective strategy for long-term impact and well-being.
You are the most important person in your life because there would be no life — relationships, work, impact on the world — without you. You think it’s noble to sacrifice yourself for the greater good, but that’s actually selfish. When you don’t take care of yourself for long enough, at some point, someone else will have to take care of you.
So it’s not selfish to put myself first; it’s actually the most selfless thing I can do for myself, my loved ones, and the world. This is why I do what I do.
I look forward to supporting you and providing practical resources that help you build your internal resources to better cope with the stress and challenges that come with being an educator right now. That being said, I would love to get your insights on your biggest challenges so I can give you what you need! Would you be willing to fill out this brief survey?
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