Hi, I’m Judith Ashley, author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, soul
nourishing romantic women’s fiction with light paranormal elements. My stories
show you what life could be like if you had a place like The Circle where you
are unconditionally accepted, supported and loved. And where, with this
support, you make choices to overcome the darkest nights of your life to choose
love and light.
The following post is adapted from one that first appeared on The Glasser Institute for Choice Theory - US website in 2023.
I’ve been on the William Glasser International teaching
faculty since 1980. During that time numerous people who are taking the early
phases of the certification training have commented along the lines of What’s the big deal? This is easy? And
then, to their surprise it isn’t.
What I know is true is that life, in and of itself, is
simple.
We have basic physical needs: food, sleep, preferably
shelter, safety.
We have the need for connection, to be useful or
important. We have the need to have choices and as Dr. Glasser taught, we have
the need to have fun because that’s how we learn.
Most of us get up in the morning with an idea or even a
clear picture of how we want our day to go. We have our schedule or agenda or
to do list or calendar ---however you organize your days. Then we take action.
At the end of the day, our list is finished, our view of how our day would go
is manifested. We have a sense of accomplishment.
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What we also know is that simple is not always easy.
A fact is we don’t always have power to keep a monkey
wrench from being thrown into the cogs of our daily schedule. And the list of
those monkey wrenches is long because for most of us, those simple days require
cooperation from someone or something beyond our control.
The washing machine works. The car has enough gas for
whatever errands or business we need to do.
The weather cooperates with any outdoor tasks
Money is in the bank
The contractor, cleaner, auto mechanic (you get the idea)
is on time and does a quality job
Your partner, children, employees, boss all do their part
so that what you are doing is easily and simply completed.
And that’s when things run amok, when simple isn’t easy.
Our simple day becomes harder because
it depends on other people to show up and things like the car or appliances to
run.
The reality is, unless what we need is totally controlled
by us, there is no guarantee of an easy day. We are at the mercy of outside
forces.
The Serenity Prayer talks about “accepting the things I
cannot change” and since one of those “things” is someone else, we have to find
our own simple. And that isn’t
always easy.
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A recent “aha” for me: Those things over which I have no
control and that I have little or no real interest in much less passion about
are easy for me to accept and even ignore.
What about those things I do care about? Those things I
have a passion for and interest in? That’s much more challenging.
It can be done. I’ve proved that to myself more than once
in the last couple of days!
How?
One part is simple. I know I have no control over other
people much less the weather, electricity, or machinery. There are times I can
simply say to myself “reschedule” or “how important is this in the relative
scheme of things” and I’m able to let it go.
What I’ve learned over the years is that I first need to
take care of myself before I am of any use to anyone else. I will admit I’m not
perfect on living up to that “knowing”.
Here are a couple of tips I’ll pass on to you
+ Much of what makes our life “hard” or “stressful” is of
our own making
+ Worry is not our friend. Fear is but worry isn’t.
+ Making sure to take care of ourselves is vital,
especially if other people rely on us for anything. The airplane adage of
making sure you put on your oxygen mask before helping someone else has
applications beyond flying.
+ Do trust your inner voice
+ Do trust your body. Sometimes the only way for it to
tell us to slow down and take better care of ourselves is to knock us down.
When that happens, take your time getting up or the next knock down will be
more serious.
+ Pay attention to your self-talk. Are you encouraging,
supporting, trusting, respecting yourself or are you criticizing, blaming and
complaining. Everyone does better, ourselves included, when we care about and
for ourselves.
+ Acknowledge the loss if that is what’s hard. Grief is
normal and useful in that it gives us time to stop. If possible, remember the
blessings. My longtime friend (July 1980) has dementia and as I’m writing this,
I learned she no longer knows who I am. We had such fun and many adventures attending
various Glasser conferences around the world and over the decades. And her loss
of herself as the person she was has been a slow process. Remembering those
adventures is bittersweet and while the tears do well, the ache in my heart eases.
Take the time to find what works for you. Look at the
whole of what you cannot control to see if there is a piece, perhaps almost
minuscule, that you can. And when you do find it, claim it and use it.
While our road in life will still have bumps and maybe
even crevices, by claiming all that we really can control, we’ll find it easier
to navigate.
Staying Sane in A Crazy World goes into the above information in more detail. By following the process outlined in the book using your own situation simple may not become Easy and it will become Easier.
I’ve got a free handout on “Plan
making” available on my website under “Resources”
www.JudithAshley.net. The Plan Making Handout is also included in my book.
You can find my books at your favorite e-book
vendor as well as through my website www.JudithAshley.net
and Windtree Press.
Print books are available at Jan’s Paperbacks in Beaverton, OR and Arte Soleil
in Portland, OR. Get the addresses from my website. And be sure to ask your
library if you’d prefer to read my books through that resource.
Learn more about Judith's The Sacred Women’s
Circle series at JudithAshley.net
Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.
You can also find Judith
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© 2024 Judith Ashley
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