Wel
come to Wyrd conversations! I’m Samantha, the founder of Wyrd Coaching and the creator of Wyrd conversations. It is the holiday season again and the thought that is sticking with me today is the idea of one-stop shopping. Every store blasts that concept in their ads and signage as do all the online shops. As a culture, it is fairly well-known that Americans like things right now! And easy peasy! The American Dream used to be to work hard and stay with a company until your pension let you retire and provide a nice life for your family. Now, folks stay at a job maybe 4 years at a time, much longer and you are considered stagnant and much less and you are considered flighty. The infamous lawsuit against the McDonald’s chain for the spilled hot coffee has become a bit of an aspiration, quick sue someone or get your idea to market asap so you can make a ton of money and then just retire. All the ads say a life of leisure is the best life! All the pretty people do it, we should all do it!
Ugh, talk about bullsh*t. Sadly, as a culture, we buy into it hook line, and sinker. Even worse, along with the stigma around mental health and self-awareness, comes the idea that ok if I see a therapist or coach, I will be fixed in six easy sessions. Um…..no. Any professional mental health worker of any kind, from a Bruja to a Psychiatrist knows that healing takes time, effort, and work. Just like any healthy relationship. When did working at something become such a task of horror? Especially working on ourselves? If we aren’t ok, then we sure aren’t going to make good choices in love or work or family.
Growing up, those of us that had to work for our first car, usually had a hunk of junk. Mine was a Subaru with one windshield wiper blade and a driver-side mirror held on with duct tape, but I bought it, and I insured it and it was GLORIOUS! I had a friend who got a BMW from her parents, it was pretty and shiny, and she wanted another model within a year because that one was not the best anymore. She wasn’t a nasty person, or overly spoiled, ok she was a bit spoiled but not a true ‘mean girl’, and yet because everything was handed to her it meant very little to her because it wasn’t something she strove for, and either achieved or failed to achieve.
There is no one-stop shop or one-session answer. Even if you have an epiphany, you still have to work at holding on to it and bringing it with you as you move forward. There is joy in working, there is joy in service, and any reward just handed to us for a random moment in life or for no real work, isn’t a reward and doesn’t get our respect.
My question to you is, what is the last thing you truly worked at, and how did that make you feel?
Have a Wyrd and Wonderful day!