Tag: Self Improvement

Get on the Disassembly Line

On By sashakatzIn FemmeFuel by Sasha KatzLeave a comment

In a world that regularly points to self improvement, I have been thinking about disassembly.  When we take a look at ourselves, it’s easy to look for the traits that we consider weaknesses.  Those things about ourselves that we think look like a C- or D on paper.  In the midst of comparison and achievement, short comings are easy to focus on.  But, lately, I’ve been toying with the idea that some of those things I put on the D list may just be a part of who I am.

I’ve shared before that I’m not a small talk person.  I will probably bore you at a cocktail party, but definitely not over coffee or tea.  Take me to a big room of networkers passing business cards and I may take a long personal call in the lobby.  I can do small groups or talk from a stage or podium, but just don’t put me in a sea of people and expect success. For a long time, I took this as a weakness or lack of determination or skill.  I don’t anymore.  God made me this way.  I can’t small talk and that’s okay.

The fact of the matter is that God made you and He likes who you are.  Go ahead and be her.  Go ahead and trash self improvement this week.  Disassemble.  Inside of you, there is lurking a gift that is being masked by a weakness.  Throw off your opinion of your weakness.  See right through the hype of self improvement and seek that part of your self that is just waiting to bless your own soul and others.

And, as always, I invite you to share what you found in your soul on Facebook, Instagram or email me at sasha@femmefuel.com.

 

 

Be Out of Your Ordinary: The 31 Day Mind-Body-Spirit Challenge

On By femmefuelIn FemmeBytes by Sasha Katz, Mind Body Spirit ConnectionLeave a comment

By AbbyA

As the heat of summer kicks in – – kids out of school – – the regular routine is on hold for a few more months.  Less traffic, more weekend plans, road trips.  We have a chance to be somewhat out of our ordinary.  We took a road trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Although I worked a fair amount of it, I stayed up late without worrying about lack of sleep for tomorrow.  I saw the bloom of beautiful pink rhododendrons on the top of Roan Mountain.  I watched our kids roar with laughter on the white water raft.  I had a chance to be challenged spiritually . . . walked a little further down the path that God has prepared for me.  Celebrated my birthday.  But even there in the midst of surroundings that look like God’s perfect peace, we can be distracted.  Did I really need to skip my morning bible study to try to finish my work  before the kids woke up?  Did I really need to bypass a country drive with my husband because it was time to make dinner preparations?  Did the laundry in the cabin basement really matter?  (Okay, that did.)

The heart of what I am getting at is God’s greatest commandment to Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  Matthew 22:37.  God fully equipped us to serve Him with the gift of intellect, hands and feet and a spirit.  While we know that the Trinity always is in perfect peace, keeping our mind, body and spirit connected is not easy.   The tough part is that if we are not connected in body-mind-spirit, we trip up in our judgment.  Hence, skipping a drive with husband to cook dinner or skipping a bible study for no good reason.  It comes out in other ways too.  How about feeling exhausted and, instead of taking a jog or a nap, you go through way too many Ghirardelli squares to calm your nerves.  And, what about those nerves?  Have you given your mind attainable, challenging goals?  Or are you cycling through out-of-whack emotions where you can’t focus?

Connecting your mind-body-spirit is not about self-help or self-improvement.  It’s about honoring God’s greatest commandment to love Him with all three.  The Trinity gives us the best example of this.  Each of its person serves a purpose and stays in perfect unity with the other.  If we can seek to keep the mind, body and spirit connected, we’ll be able to genuinely live out God’s greatest commandment.

This month, give yourself a chance to be out of your ordinary with us.  We are going to take a week to look at and consider, first, our body.  We have so much to cover as women – – our body image, fitness goals, our body’s health.  During week two, we’ll delve into our mind.  What are your intellectual, professional, financial and career goals?  Are you setting out to make the best of your mind and keeping it healthy too?  Finally, the spirit.  Where are you at in your walk with God?  If you asked Him, would He tell you that you are just where He wants you or is it time to make some adjustments?  Yes, there is week four.  But, we are going to let God lead.  No doubt, you the readers and the Holy Spirit will tell where to end on this all-encompassing 31 day journey.    Be Out of Your Ordinary.  You never know where God will take you.