The Emotional Heimlich

No one is here to tell you what to do with your life; that's not the purpose of Savvy Groomer.  The goal is to be your Jiminy Cricket, and always let your conscience be your guide... To be that little voice to ask you "is this what I need right now?".  I needed an Emotional Heimlich today, I needed to admit I was choking, drowning in tasks, to do lists, stress.  I am relentless on myself:

"you should have done that yesterday, now you'll have to squeeze it in today"
"there's no reason this should take so long"
"this looks like garbage"
"why aren't you done yet?"
"if they can do all this and run 3 other businesses why can't YOU?"
"you're pathetic"
"you're weak"
"no one cares what you have to think"

There is this terrible rabbit hole I find myself often staring down, like Alice about to fall into Wonderland.  If I let myself fall down it, the cycle will continue tomorrow, worse, because that hesitation will just make it all the more built up, all the more pressure.

The dog needs a haircut, you have a poodle and you're a groomer, you know better.
You didn't empty the dishwasher yesterday, now there is a mountain of dishes in the sink.
You forgot to swap the laundry yesterday, now what are we going to wear?
You promised to do this, this and this for your facebook group, but that didn't happen.
You are falling behind on client calls, booking appointments, better hurry up or you'll miss out.
Your kid went to school without an extra snack, what kind of mother are you?

My tasks grow, and grow, and grow.  Every moment I feel the weight of them crushing me, reminding me how inadequate I am.  So I have to purge, I have to give myself some emotional heimlich...

how?

I took my dirty, poorly groomed standard poodle, Rory, to the local park and we walked in the woods.  I let myself put all those thoughts in an emotional box for an hour.  We walked by the pond, Rory stuck a foot in and decided it was too cold.  I laughed as she chased squirrels, was proud of her as she stood like a statue and let strangers pet her.  I gave myself a mental break, so I can come and sit down by my desk and digest what I can only find when I am allowed to relax.

myself.

There are really only 3 reasons we choke on our life, 

1. We've taken on too much responsibility
2. We've imagined we've taken on too much responsibility
3. We are escaping something we are subconsciously afraid of- by feeling needed

If have bitten off more than you can chew, take an hour to digest if you really do have too much responsibility, you are imagining you've taken on too much responsibility or if you are just trying to escape something emotionally through feeling needed.  It's time to stop choking, or you can't help anyone- not even yourself.