| Your Power Element is Earth |
 Your energy: balancing Your season: changing of seasons Dedicated and responsible, you are a rock to your friends. You are skilled at working out even the most difficult problems. Low key and calm, you are happiest when you are around loved ones. Ambitious and goal oriented, you have long term plans to be successful. |
So, I have a power element and it's dirt? Somehow I was hoping for something more glamorous like uranium. Well, I keep telling the folks at work that I am not just the "grassroots" of the organization but the "dirt under the grass". I guess I was right all along!
Our weekend went way too fast. We got our income tax refund and spent it on clothes and a new grill. PK and I never just go clothes shopping and our wardrobes needed a boost. He got white shirts and khaki pants (again!) and I got summer skirts and some bright colored shirts. I am determined to break out of the blue/neutral colors rut I am in. Saturday I cleaned and did the laundry and cooked and Sunday I sat around and slept and knitted (it was just too humid to spin) and PK mowed the back 40. Next week we are cleaning out the pool and getting it ready to swim. Elanor informs me that there are dead squirrels in there. EWWWWW. I am so grateful that PK said he would clean them out because I think I can't handle that. We'll empty it Friday, scrub it Saturday and start filling it up right away. And then we will have cool weather for weeks! I love having the pool but it is work to keep it clean and clear.
I went to a training today on Diversity in Recovery Planning (recovery from mental illness). The speaker was good and easy to listen to. (I did several inches on my striped socks. ) She said something that I found interesting and have been thinking about. She said "We are all in recovery from something". Hmm. I had an uncle who abused me as a child and I have put it behind me and don't consider myself "in recovery from sexual abuse". It's something that happened and I survived and got over it. Should I think about it all the time and use it as an excuse to not do/accomplish things I want to? I have a great deal of compassion for those who are truly in pain from life experiences and respect what they have gone through. I see and hear things every day that make me despair for the human race (and things that give me a great deal of hope as well). But are we leaning on things that happened to us as crutches so we don't have to succeed or live up to our or others' expectations? What is the definition of success? I am not a wealthy woman, nor will I ever be (unless I win the lottery!) but I consider myself successful. I am happy, have a good family that I adore and a job that is fulfilling and I feel loved every day. What more could I ask for? Really? New cars and second homes and fabulous jewelry are not my cup of tea. If I had money, I'd probably give it to people who needed it. Don't get me wrong, I like spending money as much as the next person but I just don't feel like there are a lot of things that I need. I was raised to believe that money makes you successful and therefore in my parents' eyes, I am not a success. I can live with that because my definition is different. What's your definition of success?
Wow, isn't that profound for a Monday? I hope you are all well and your week is starting out on a good note.
12 comments:
Oh, I feel exactly the same way about "recovery." Too many people use their childhood (or otherwise) experiences as a reason they're not happy as adults. I'm not denying terrible things can and do happen, but at a certain point, we are responsible for our own happiness and wellbeing. It drives me crazy to hear people saying their life would have been fine if not for what Whoever did to them. Very often we can't control what happens to us, but we can control what we do with it afterwards.
Which would all probably make more sense if you knew about certain aspects of my childhood...
Oh, and my definition of success? Hmm. Happy has always come first for me, but not at anyone else's expense. I consider myself successful because I have a good marriage and a calm and steady life, something I once thought I'd never achieve.
I think that success is knowing that it is perfectly ok to never feel like you have to say you are "in recovery!" I have nothing against recovering...it's just that it seems to have grown into a state of being rather than a process.
I also agree with you and Amy on "recovery". It really bugs me that a lot of people don't take responsibility to change things they are unhappy with - it might be a little thing in the workplace or a more important thing in their life - but if they can blame "Someone Else" then they don't have to do anything about it. Like Amy, I agree terrible things can happen and have a huge impact on a person's life, but in most cases, it doesn't take away your ability to choose how you live life going forward. So I guess for me, success is also (in addition to be happy and loved) the ability to make conscious decisions about how you want to live your life, and follow through on those decisions.
And Earth - I think that is the perfect descriptor of you - in a very good way - you are the basis of all that is good around you - your family, your workmates. I think that is a fabulous way of being.
I agree with everyone else about using "recovery" as an excuse for not being responsible for life choices.
I equate earth with being centered or "grounded", so to speak. That is something people spend thousands of dollars and years of their lives to find. Lucky you - you've already got it.
My definition of success is making a difference in the life of another person, be it family, friend, client or complete stranger.
Ditto on the recovery thing. I try to catch myself out when I hear myself making such excuses. I think it's one thing to recognise how the past has affected you and another to let it still control who you are and what decisions you make now.
I feel successful in small ways if I can go to bed each night feeling ok about the things I've done/achieved, be they big or small. I used to have grander designs for my life that would have determined my success but I've scaled them back a bit. Life teaches hard lessons.
Oh and dead squirrels! Yuck!!!
My purpose in life is to rejoice (yeah, it's a tough job, but someone has to do it) so every day I can find something to rejoice in, I have been a success.
Galad has it right. You are well grounded.
Dead squirrels - ick!
Yes, I think sometimes "recovery" itself can be abused and turned into a roadblock. It's like the whole alcoholism thing I'm dealing with. Lots of married-tos and children-ofs (I'm both!) like to say that they are "diseased" or "sick" too. Bah. I hate those words and think they throw more nails in the road than they help.
Success to me? A roof over my head, a family that doesn't hate me and we're not starving. So far so good!
Hmmm, "recovery". I try to be tolerant of everyone's situation and ability to cope with it, but some days it's a struggle. I mean, how long can you hang on to the past and wrap yourself up in the wrongs that have been done to you? I think a lot of people need help with the "getting on with it" part, and either don't realize it or are in denial. Myself..."better living through chemistry" is my motto.
I would rather describe myself as a survivor than a victim. I think that's a healthy attitude.
Maybe everyone is in recovery from something, or maybe a lot of us feel we have recovered.
And now I'm a mostly-happy knitter, gardener, et cetera - er.
That doesn't mean I've erased or disowned my past, it just means my past is not my present or my future.
i think the speaker had a good point. Very nearly everyone has had a life-changing event or a major turning point that they may still be recovering from. But when does recovery stop? And when do you get to move on with your life? I think there's a difference between recovering, which is going forward in spite of a traumatic experience, and hiding, which is using said experience as a crutch.
And as for success, well, I'm still not sure how I define it. I think, in my case, I will feel successful when I've finished school and can achieve the goals I've set for myself. Those goals keep changing every so often, though, so who knows how I may define success later on?
Hi! You don't know me but I followed a comment that said you were the mother of three daughters...and I am too, so I thought I'd come over here and check things out. I love my girls, and none of them are particularly "girly." Well, neither am I. We raise 'em in the dirt over here. ;)
My definition of success? Everyone is healthy, relatively happy, and the bills are paid. Most of them, anyway. Am I shooting too low, do you think?
i am earthas well and sucess is getting to the point where you are happy with yourself. sounds like you are.
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