Monthly Self Care Goal for October- THRILL

Happy October! And welcome back to this year’s self-care, intention setting-guide. This month we are focused on Thrill. And just what is so important about feeling thrilled you may ask? We talk about practicing some very serious and difficult topics, what’s so important about a fleeting increase in heart rate? Um, so much! Thrill is fun! Exhilarating! Slightly scary! It lets us know we are alive! So, look for an opportunity to find thrill this month.

Thrill:

We might be out of season for roller coasters but how about a haunted house?! Karaoke?! A daring outfit?! Trying a dating app?! Skydiving?! A first kiss?! I’m reminiscent of my high school graduation where I was seated right next to my crush of many years (I thought it was fated but really our last names were close in the alphabet). I don’t remember much about graduation because I was working up the nerve to tell him I had a crush on him, hand him a pre-written note with my phone number on it and tell him to call me. Which I did. He didn’t call, in case you were wondering, but it really doesn’t matter, because when I look back on that my memory it has nothing to do with him and all about me feeling brave.

Adrenaline can be a good thing. It helps us survive, and do things we didn't think we physically could do (dumb 14er- see my previous blog on mountain climbing)! Of course too much of anything can be ultimately a bad thing, but this is talking about moderate states of adrenaline rushes.

I’m currently in a state of Thrill! I have taken myself to my first work conference as a business owner. It’s scary, and exciting, and uncertain. Full of possibilities that I will fall on my face in front of a large group of people and/or have a deep and meaningful conversation with someone I really admire in this field. Thrilling! (Update- I have yet to fall on my face in front of a group of people. I did speak to author Emily Nagoski, whom I greatly admire. Perhaps most surprising is that I joined an outdoor dance class. Yes, I danced. I danced as if the world wasn't watching, even though a number of my colleagues were:) And once I got over the embarrassment and just got into my body, it was awesome!)

Awe:

Akin to thrill is the feeling of "awe". For me I feel this during live music. Or live theater. Something artistic with a large group of people that I am sharing a collective experience with. Music on my speakers by a loved artist is fantastic, but at a live venue it is spiritual. Awe has aspects of the creative and the divine, and is not always but often a shared experience. What brings you Awe?

As a side note, it dawns on me that perhaps people are “obsessed” with sports because it combines these feelings, thrill and awe? Excitement, fear, uncertainty, excellence, divinity… Puts that kind of love and devotion into a new perspective for me...

Healthy Risk:

To my best friend who is starting a new job after 18 years at her former place of employment, congrats! That is scary, and exciting, and risky. But risky in a healthy way. It is important to assess pros and cons, weigh the consequences, plan out steps, and then take a leap! We can’t always see what is in front of us, we will never know if the decisions we are about to make are going to pay off in the end, we just try to logically make good decisions while also paying attention to our emotions and our body. Does staying in your current job make you physically ill? Are you emotionally burnt out, or hopeless? Those are also factors in your decision making and should also be considered. Evaluate it all, and then roll the dice😊

It is very important to exercise and meditate and journal and go to therapy and eat healthy and be grateful and all that stuff. I don't know about you, but I don’t want to just try to protect my life, and stay alive, I want to FEEL ALIVE. It’s our one and precious life, so let’s LIVE it.