Question your Assumptions

I was watching an episode of Dr. Oz a while back (I love Dr. Oz!) and the topic of the show transitioned to a particular woman who was very unhealthy. They followed her through a typical day which consisted of working a full-time job, taking care of her elderly parents, and doing the stereotypical “wife duties” of shopping, cooking, and cleaning. And on top of all that she picked up a part-time job to work in the evenings to make ends meet due to her husband being unemployed for many months. This woman’s life made mine look like a vacation, that’s for sure! Keeping a lifestyle like this was taking its toll, though. She was overweight, not getting enough sleep, over-stressed, suffering from high blood pressure, and the list went on and on.

They then welcomed to the show a professional life coach. Clearly in this woman’s case, she needed to get her life under control before they could work on the food and exercise areas of health. As the coach listed out the steps to take to get her life back to a healthy level, there was one step that particularly stood out to me: Question your Assumptions.

How often are our “have to’s” really things we have to do? We place certain assumptions on how things are supposed to be; what a good parent should do, what a perfect wife should do, what it takes to be successful. It’s easy to play the blame game when we’re stressed, busy, or unhappy. But in most cases we’re probably assuming things need to be a certain way when they really don’t.

What kind of assumptions are you placing on your life? Try this eye-opening exercise for yourself by listing out everything that is putting a strain on you right now. Then self-debate the possibility that they are not necessary. You might just be amazed at what you discover.

Becky,
Sister of Soul

Soul-spiration of the Week:
“Begin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in awhile, or the light won't come in.” ~Alan Alda