After the jump

A while back, I wrote a blog post about my breakdown and how things weren't going anymore. Missed it? Read it here. Now I'm getting tons of questions about how I'm doing and how I'm enjoying my new life. So, it's time to take stock of "after the leap" (you know, that figurative leap I took ;-)).

Looking back and then being shocked

Looking back, I'm shocked. I see now that it was way too much, that I didn't have time to "live," and that I was grumpy all the time because I simply didn't have the energy to be "nice." Now that I'm happily enjoying "slow living" again, especially now with a bad case of the flu, you really notice the difference. I'm still a busy bee, that's in my nature, but I'm no longer pushing myself too hard. What a difference!

Design your life the way you want it

This has always been a motto of mine since I became limited in energy. You have to choose how you want to shape your life. Okay, sometimes things happen, but there's almost always a choice. I've always been very aware of this, but due to the enormous growth of my business (thanks to all your orders: YAY!), I was finally feeling like I was being lived. And being lived is awful. It's perfectly fine for a while, of course; it happens to everyone. But fundamentally, you want to shape your life the way it suits you. So that you feel good about yourself and can be the best version of yourself.

Back to basics

For me, the foundation goes back to my values. Things that are important to me, like my health (so I can live a good life without having to push myself), slow living, enjoying nature, expressing myself creatively, and enjoying the people (and dogs) around me. And I'm finally back to that foundation, and it's WONDERFUL!

For example: my dear neighbor showed up at my door early on a Monday morning: "Are you coming to the Rijksmuseum with me? I'm leaving in half an hour?" she said. Normally, I packed parcels on Mondays, which were the hardest day of the week for me, so that wasn't an option. Now I thought: okay, I still have a lot to do, but I can do that later, and I'll have time to recover tomorrow (because such an outing takes so much energy, phew!). It had been my dream to visit the Rijksmuseum for years, so I simply accepted! So there's room for spontaneity, but also for development. I'm noticing my creativity developing, and I'm finding it all so incredibly enjoyable!

What do you want with this talk?

You're probably wondering what on earth to do with these ideas of mine. Well, I want to get you thinking:

Are you living within your limits now? It doesn't always have to be that way; the Rijksmuseum was way beyond my limits too, but as long as you don't chronically live beyond your limits and take time to recover, it's fine!

-Is there room for curiosity, spontaneity and laughter?

What does your foundation look like? What are your values?

Could you use some support to shape your life the way you want? Then check out Messages from the Woods!