A tea shop, a sabbatical, and one mind blown

Happy Monday!

I have a little story for ya.

About 9 years ago I made the decision that I needed to take a one month sabbatical from the PR firm I was working for.  Samantha in Sex in the City painted a glamorous picture of the PR world. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't entirely untrue, but there is a hustle in that world that can wear a Betty down. I began to dread Monday and going to the office each day and IT.WAS.EXHAUSTING. 

I had always loved my job and so this new world of not wanting to wake up and jam on the day was really foreign to me. So when the opportunity arose for me to take a one month break, I didn't hesitate.  During that sabbatical I figured I needed to do some soul searching...you know, like you see in the movies. That lead me down a very Julia & Julia meets Eat, Pray, Love road. I made pasta from scratch, started to garden, took voice lessons, read more...I was all in. 

In that time, I had tea with a coach I had met at the PR firm. (Yes, tea...he was British...so no, I wasn't cheating on coffee).  He was the kind of coach who would throw out one question to you and your brain would explode from 20 million AH-HA sparks.  So naturally, this tea was no different.  

He was asking me what I wanted. I didn't know. I couldn't articulate it. I just felt stuck and like I didn't have any direction or purpose. What I did know, was that one month was starting to not feel like enough time and I was getting anxiety about my leave from work that I took so I could relieve my anxiety.  

And so he asked me, "Why don't you take 6 months off?"

"Uh...because I HAVE to work!"

"No you don't.  You don't HAVE to work."

.....who is this guy and why did I decide to have tea with him?  Actually, the tea thing should have tipped me off. 

"Of course I have to work. I have to pay my bills!" 

Wait for it...this is where he drops a truth bomb. 

"Well, you are CHOOSING to live the life you are living right now. You can make different CHOICES. You CHOOSE to have cable, drive a newer car, go shopping etc." 

WHOOSH!  Everything I thought I knew about choice just rushed past me. Meaning, it meant more than just picking out what heels I was going to wear that day or how many coffees I might drink. I know...NOT rocket science, but in my defense, often the big moments aren't. 

So if Mondays are a source of stress and worry, remember about your power of CHOICE. You can choose to shift your mindset to think of Monday differently, or you can choose to take action and figure out WHY Mondays are so stressful.  The universe and your body are talkin' to ya Lady...do yourself a favor and listen.  

This week, eliminate the phrase "HAVE TO" from your vocabulary and replace it with "I WANT TO".  You will start to feel some awesome power. 

Until next week. 

Livin' & Lovin' with you
B

P.S. I ended up CHOOSING to take an entire year off of work.