Here we are, our first Mindset Monday in Level 3!
We survived level 4 and now we are thriving in Level 3 with our flat whites and takeaways, and doesn’t it feel good to have a few nights off cooking and doing the dishes?! On the first day of Level 4 (39 days ago) our hot tap in the kitchen sink stopped working. Since then, we have had to fill up a bowl with hot water from the laundry every time we have needed to do the dishes, waiting for Level 3 to get a plumber… so when I say I was excited to order B-chicken and not have to do the dishes, I say it with tears in my eyes, I nearly kissed the plumber when he turned up (sorry Jared).
Now I know for some people the freedoms that come with Level 3 still do not alleviate a lot of the stress that comes with being under Alert Level restrictions and being able to get a flat white may seem insignificant compared to your bigger concerns. That is where today’s blog post comes in!
Introducing the “Fill your cup!” metaphor!
Have ever heard the sayings “fill your cup”, or “my cup is so full!”, or even “my cup is empty” before?
The fill your cup metaphor refers to replenishing (or fillingup) your physical, mental, and emotional energy.
Now humor me for a second…
Imagine that you have a cup full of water sitting in front of you. The water in that glass represents your physical, mental, and emotional energy. If you drink from your cup by completing activities or tasks that take your energy, or if you give energy to others, the water in the cup is going to go down. If you do not refill your cup, by practicing self-care to increase your energy levels, then eventually your cup will be empty, and you will have no energy to use for important tasks, or to give to anybody else.
During this time, it may feel as though your cup is drained, like there are holes in the bottom of your cup that you cannot plug, and even though you are not actively doing tasks or giving energy away, you may feel like your cup is never completely full.
As I have previously mentioned, lockdowns impact us all differently, however it is common to feel as though you have lack of control over the situation and find the experience rather stressful and draining. In normal life, you may feel like it takes longer for your cup to empty and that it is easier to refill. In order to keep your physical, mental, and emotional energy levels up, and your cup full it is important to understand what is emptying your cup, and what fills it.
These things are different for us all, however, once you can identify what you need to do to fill your cup up to the top, you will have more energy to get those draining jobs done (for me… doing the dishes) and more energy to give to those important people around you.
I personally love using the cup metaphor to describe how experiences and tasks make me feel. I have found that being able to visualize my energy levels as a cup of water helps me identify what drains it and what helps refill it.
After I do a bush walk I like to turn to the person next to me and say “My cup is so full right now!!”, or after I catch up with a good friend and we talk for hours about all of the things in our lives and laugh about our memories I will come home and say to my partner “Oh man, that was so good, my cup is so full!”, or after I finish a challenging assignment I might say to those I live with “My cup is so empty, I need a refill”.
If you are someone who loves to give your energy and time to other people, then it is of extra importance that you make sure your cup always has some extra volume (maybe even overflow in a saucer? How can we make this metaphor go…) because you can’t pour from an empty cup.
So my challenge for you this week is to go forth and find out What fills your cup?
Find out where the holes in your cup are, ask yourself how much water you currently have in your cup, and make a conscious effort to do more of what fills it right up to the brim and maybe overflows it into a saucer so you can share it with the ones you love :-)