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.
Hey! Did you see that once-in-a-lifetime event last week??
I didn’t. Oh well. There is so much happening in the world. With almost 8 billion people and near instant access to every single thing every person is doing online, it's easy to get sucked into the hype of all the amazing opportunities in the world around us. Eclipses and northern lights and Olympics galore. We’re so much more aware of EVERYTHING we should and shouldn’t be doing, hearing, seeing, or buying. But this isn't normal—we’re not meant to be this connected and informed.
When there is a “once-in-a-lifetime,” “can’t miss” event coming up every single week (or maybe every single day), on top of just having to live your daily life, it can all get to be way too much.
As an educator, you put so much of your energy into your students and community. If you have a family at home, more of your energy goes to that. At the end of the day you don’t have much left in the tank, and then you open up social media and see how other people are spending their lives and you feel like you’re missing out. You start to feel out of control with how you’re spending your attention, time, and money. And you’re dissatisfied because you feel like you should be spending your time differently than you currently are. FOMO can zap your life satisfaction if you let it.
So how do you stop the fear and guilt of missing out on life?
First, there will always be more to do. More to see. More to experience. That’s the beauty of life. You have an enormous buffet of options you get to choose from. You get to CHOOSE. External circumstances don’t control your choices. You control what you bring into your life.
This requires mindfulness—you must be aware of the thoughts you have about your life. Focus on the positive (what you get to do) rather than the negative (what you might be missing). You’ll always be missing something (there’s simply not enough time in life to do everything), and I’m thinking you probably don’t want to constantly live in a state of feeling like you’re missing out. How you get there is up to you, but some strategies are to practice gratitude, limit your time on social media, or define your core values that will guide your choices about what you say yes and no to.
Second, how you spend your daily life is much more impactful for your health and well-being than chasing random, momentary experiences of elation and excitement. Of course those can add value to your life, but if you’re not content, fulfilled, or feeling well daily, participating in these once-in-a-lifetime events aren’t going to make things better.
When you have limited energy and you feel overwhelmed, you’ll get a lot more bang for your buck focusing on building daily habits that support your well-being.
Earlier this year, I was disappointed when I found out I’d slept through the Northern Lights when they were visible in North America. But a few minutes later, I forgot and it didn’t matter. Then there was some special eclipse that only happens once every 20 years that I missed because it was cloudy in Houston. Bummer. And I didn’t watch much of the Olympics, but news headlines made me feel like I was missing something historic. Now, two months later, my life is no worse for not having watched it, and I don’t think it’d be any better even if I had.
You have to make a choice to not let in all the noise and stay steadfast in what’s most important to YOU and impactful in YOUR life. So what are you choosing to spend your time and attention on this week?
For me, it’s getting daily exercise and meditation and maintaining my routines as much as possible as I prepare to move across the country! I would love to hear what you’re choosing this week! Leave a comment below.
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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