Feeling Jaded

Would you know if you were feeling jaded? You would be limiting your choices and options if you were!

In a coaching conversation this week a person shared they were feeling jaded. In that one word I knew exactly what they meant! While the word itself is defined as losing enthusiasm for something, the image creates a much more rich explanation.

Unlike losing enthusiasm or apathy, jadedness conjures up images of being turned to stone. A hardness to things. Not just apathy, but a bitterness and distain for something that was previously a valuable connection.

I bet you feel jaded more that you think. Given all of the things are we have experienced individually and collectively in the last few years, there have been lots of opportunities to put up the shields and close off connections.

The dilemma with feeling jaded is not only do we lose connections with things we wanted to be connected to before, we also limit our future choices. By being hardened, we have less flexibility and options before us.

The antidote? Observe your jadedness. Ask, for a different perspective. Soften the edges. Choose a path that has more options and greater compassion for yourself and others. – www.rhoadscoaching.thinkific.com

feeling jaded - Rhoads Life Coaching

finding meaning and purpose in daily life

The Befuddled Coachman Podcast – Bioaccumulation – S02 E44

bioaccumulation - The Befuddled Coachman Podcast

Introspective Topics in Under Five Minutes!

Bioaccumulation is the concentration of contaminates upward through the higher levels of a system. Where are you concentrating beliefs and emotional energy that might have a greater negative effect if passed forward?

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bioaccumulation - The Befuddled Coachman

finding meaning and purpose in daily life

The Befuddled Coachman Podcast – Guilt vs Shame – S02 E34

guilt vs shame - The Befuddled Coachman Podcast

Introspective Topics in Under Five Minutes!

We feel guilty when we are responsible for something that went wrong. A mistake or an accident. We feel shame when we believe there is something wrong with who we are. Our culture struggles to separate the two.

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guilt vs shame - The Befuddled Coachman

finding meaning and purpose in daily life

Grounds & Lightning Rods

Our emotions function like electricity. They are meant to flow. Just like the wires in your house, it helps to have emotional grounds in the outlets and emotional lightning rods on the roof to prevent overloads.

Imagine what your life would be like without electricity. Those currents flowing through practically everything, keep our daily lives moving. Our emotions are the same. Life would be dark and dull without emotional current.

It is possible to overload the system, though, both with electricity and emotions. It might help then to build emotional grounds and lightning rods into your life. We don’t pay much attention to that third prong in the kitchen or bathroom outlet, or the small wire on top of the buildings we go in and out of. They are there to prevent overloads of electricity and they save us from lots of harm all the time.

What does an emotional ground or lightning rod look like then? Maybe you are already doing it to some degree and don’t know it. Those grounding techniques could include: going for a run/walk, calling a friend to vent, writing in a journal, throwing rocks in the river, singing/yelling to loud music in the car, etc. The possibilities are nearly unlimited once you recognize that your emotional system gets supercharged and needs to ground energy in a safe way!

The intent, though, is that you have a mechanism built into your own wiring that is in place and ready to act when a large emotional spike comes down the line. The request then is to be intentional about putting those safeguards in place and to use them when needed. – www.rhoadscoaching.thinkific.com

Lightning Rods - Rhoads Life Coaching

finding meaning and purpose in daily life

Emotional Saturation

I was being stubborn a few days ago and went for a run in the rain. It got me thinking about saturation. The deep puddles and cold wet clothes were a mirror for the emotional toll this year has taken on us.

Does that resonate? I’ve posted before about how our emotions are meant to be felt, not suppressed. There is a penalty for forcing our bodies to hold onto our feelings. We have to store them in our bones and tissues. If we store them too long they build up and we become saturated. Just like the ground on a rainy day.

Whether it is fear, sadness, anger, or any other emotion you have been feeling over the course of this year, at some point you may have been weighed down with carrying those emotions through the day. It takes energy to carry them! I got tired faster on my regular run lifting my feet higher through the puddles and carrying the extra weight of soaked clothes. We are exhausted from all of the emotions connected to 2020.

The relief does not come from ignoring and repressing what we are feeling (imagine wearing those soaked running clothes for the rest of the day). Part of the solution is unclogging the drains and allowing our emotions to flow. Unwillingness to admit you are tired from running in those heavy clothes, prevents a chance to dry out and rest.

What parts of your life have reached an emotional saturation? What do you need to do different to allow those emotions to flow in a healthy way so you are so flooded? – www.rhoadscoaching.com

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finding meaning and purpose in daily life