Rewards

This photo is from a few years back when I first started growing a bunch of winter squash.  It was wonderful.  The colors, the textures, the tastes...heavenly!  Then the vine borers and squash bugs took over and I haven't been able to grow much of any since. 

I tried.  Lots of manure, lots of weeding, lots of attention to squash bug eggs, etc.   They died anyway.   All that work and no reward.

Rewards are important. 

How often do you work and work and work and then there's no payoff?     I do that.   I wear 'Delayed Gratification' like a badge of honor.   Don't get me wrong, delayed gratification is a really important skill to cultivate; however, a lifetime of investment without taking a return is really unhealthy.  This, I know.

As awesome as delayed gratification is for character development, knowing how to Receive is just as important. 

If you've been waiting too long to receive, then it's time to reap the harvest, claim your reward, initiate immediate gratification.  This is an important part of self-care. 

[And self-care is important because in meeting our needs, we become happier, and happier people make better connections with others, have an easier time setting and reaching goals, are healthier, etc.  You know I'm right.]

If you're worried about being selfish, then remember that you simply need to receive those rewards for things you have done the work for.  It's the law of the harvest - you planted the seeds, you get to reap the harvest.   The harvest is ready.  You're done waiting.  Claim your reward.

I'd love to know what your rewards are!  Drop me a line or comment below. 

I'd like to invite you to join our Best Self facebook group where we can talk freely about becoming our best selves - and all the messy work that entails.  In addition, I have another group, The Well Balanced Artist, for creatives of all kinds and in all stages of their creative lives, who are trying to balance their art, business and personal lives.   

Balance

The theme for this month is 'balance'.  Balance is hard for me.  I do a lot of things, wear a lot of hats, work as efficiently as I can to be as productive as I can be, which means I often neglect things that are good for me and which feel good when I do them, but do not meet my very strict definition of  'productive'.  I love how I feel when I'm productive.  I don't love how I feel when I'm neglecting something and get out of balance.

Lately I feel very out of balance.  To get back in balance, I answered these questions:

A.  What are the things/goals I'm trying to accomplish and work toward these days?

• Am I making progress?
• Do I feel good about that progress

B.  What am I neglecting?

• Has that neglect caused problems?   What are they?

C.  Do I want to continue feeling out of balance?

• What specific things do I need to do to address the things I'm neglecting?
• How much time will I set aside to address these?  (Doesn't have to be a lot)

D.  What strategy will I use to free up the time I need to do these things?

• What things will I no longer spend time on?  
• What boundaries will I instate to protect my time & focus?
• What physical space do I need to have available?
• What reminders do I need?

E.  Who do I have to support me? [This one is not easy for me, either.]

• My accountability partner is _______________.
• My cheerleader is _______________.

F.  How am I going to reward myself for doing this stuff (based on difficulty/effort)?

• My little reward is _______________.
• My medium sized reward is _______________.
• My OMG-I-really-did-this reward is _______________.
• My accountability partner who will make sure I reward myself is _______________.

My current issues have to do with a creative practice and a meditation practice.  I need to schedule these into my day.   I have very reasonable and measurable goals.  My meditation practice is five and a half minutes.  [Seriously.  Go to that link and read about it.]   I set a timer.   My creative practice should be at least 10 minutes.  I'll set a timer for that one, too. 

The challenge for me with these is that I do them better when I'm in the right head space and I haven't been, so it's hard to sit down and sketch or meditate.   I think my strategy for this is to do them first thing in the day, then give myself a really awesome reward when I've done them for so long.  10 days?  30 days?  [Note:  I'm not interested in doing them everysingleday-all-or-nothing.  30 days with the occasional skip is still 30 days and that would be awesome.  They don't have to be 30 consecutive days.]   I'm still thinking about the reward thing.  It brings up other issues I have about being deserving of rewards.   I have more work to do on that.   Maybe I should give myself a reward for accepting a reward?  I'll keep you posted.