The wondrous world of serenity
Serenity is a way to take action when springing into action during a crisis
We’ve been called by other leaders in our communities to ponder questions like “What can I do to take care of my community?” I pondered this question and felt I needed to jump right into the action! But, once I jumped into action I paused realizing my emotions were driving my actions. I was emotionally spiraling instead of practicing serenity.
As Maya Angelou reminds us -- “Be present in all things and thankful for all things.” Being present is now ringing especially golden. With all the things that going on in the world (e.g. public health crisis, COVID-19, the economy, social/physical distancing), we need to notice when emotions are driving action -- among leadership, it's feelings like passion, stress, or overwhelm -- a "just get it done” mentality. Instead, what you need is to be in the moment of what is in front of you, right now. Otherwise, we will suffer from burnout. Because we are leaders, we will always be called to service and, instead of springing into action, just wait. We will always get called to service, we just need to be aware of the call when it is presented to us directly. There is enough service to go around - we don’t have to do it all.
In my service overachiever rant, once I slowed my mind, I quickly realized the emotion that drove my service was the need to go above and beyond. If you’re prone to burnout, you know that this can be stressful.
In this emotional state, I had to make a point to counter the stories and emotions I was telling myself; a story of which is that I should be “taking care” of my community. We have to reflect on the service we provide to our community, then figure out how to do that better rather than scrambling around trying to figure out a way to give more -- as if what we’re giving is not already enough. If we are not well, we cannot serve. Leaders are vulnerable, we must take care of our mental health so we can serve well. Here are some tips for being emotionally well and taking care of our emotional health.
Notice the emotion before springing into action - It takes practice to notice the emotion, ours or others, and how these are impacting action.
If we cannot name the emotion, just seeing it there will help us make better decisions on what to do. Sometimes you can notice this when watching other people individually or in groups. What do you notice? Things like chaos or lethargy?
What you notice outside of yourself is telling you about yourself. When we notice emotions in others, it tells us something about ourselves. What we notice in others, especially those closest to us, is what we need to work on ourselves. Patience? Compassion?
Do the opposite of what your mind is telling you to do - if you’re starting to feel overwhelmed with all the leadership service available, then realize this and do the opposite (at least for the moment). Trust me, you will still be called to service and you’ll be able to show up fully for those you choose to engage. You will not miss anything.
As leaders, we have to keep serenity, whatever that looks for us, at the forefront of our lifestyle because we are susceptible to burnout. The best thing we can do for ourselves now is to try to practice serenity as much as we can.