Checking In

Where are you? How are you? Encourage yourself to stop and think about this because these are important questions to ask yourself when doing a check in.

I imagine you sometimes ask others how they are doing and that is absolutely great, but what about you? Think about the last time you stopped to check in and see where you were in your life. Not thinking about what job you are working, not what ladder of success you are or are not climbing. Just stopping to check in with yourself, are you ok? Are you happy? Think about how often you check in with yourself to see if you are happy in your life right now. Do you believe happiness still exists?

So often we can get sucked into believing that our happiness is only based on whether or not some external goal is reached or gift is received. Whatever the erroneous story is that you have told yourself, you falsely end up believing that your happiness originates outside of you. Ask yourself if that is where you are and if so truly think about how you got there.

Living life and only existing because you are alive is not enough to keep us going and eventually starts to negatively impact us. The untouched emotions that buildup from failing to check in on you, will from time to time, spill into your present life in various forms. Untouched emotions can impact us individually in many ways, including self-doubt, low self-esteem, negative thinking and anxious spiraling. When it comes to interacting with others, when we have not checked in with ourselves we can become defensive, easily annoyed, reactive and at times unpleasant to be around. There is nothing wrong with feeling a multitude of emotions. Most often our concerns become overwhelming when we scrutinize ourselves and ask "what is wrong with me," rather than "what is going on for me?"

You are a human being and you have emotions. Avoiding them does not stop them from being there.

So, find some time to stop for just a moment and check in on you. Ask yourself, "how am I feeling?" Then listen to you, listen to what you need instead of judging yourself. Remember, the responsibility of living your life is not for anyone else. It is for you.