What’s Filling Your Well?

This pandemic has been going on for months now, and people are frustrated, angry, tired, just everything. And I relate to that, I’m feeling it too. The other day, I was scrolling through my Netflix and Amazon Prime accounts. I’ve been using my downtime to watch light, funny material to boost my mood and escape from the harsh news of the day.

As I searched, I realized I’ve watched everything I wanted to watch! Endlessly scrolling, or settling for something I don’t really like was not going to help my self-care. I needed to do something else.

I don’t know how many other people are at the point where what used to work doesn’t work anymore, but as a society, we’re all facing the reality that we’re still only partway through this situation, and we still have a long way to go.

I’m aware of how much easier I’ve had it than other people during this time. Both my wife and I transitioned our jobs online quite easily. Part of me feels guilty for wanting to increase my self-care and even for writing this article.

But as I was being coached by one of my students recently, I realized this really is something we all need to focus on, otherwise, we’re just going to succumb to this frustration and growing anger, or feeling down or defeated. And leaders need self-care in order to lead at their best, especially during a pandemic. We need leaders who are not reacting but are responding.

If we step back, we’ll see this is one of the defining moments in history where a lot is going to change, good or bad. And we need to be at our best in order to live into that change responsibly.

What fills your self-care well?

A lot of us are caring for other people right now, but what do YOU need for your self-care? Keep in mind that it might be different from what you needed a year ago or even three months ago.

We’ve talked about ways to take better care of yourself while working from home. Now let’s think about the rest of our lives. Ask yourself, what will fuel me this week? How will joy show up today? What will fill my well?

Streaming light shows and movies were filling up my well for a while until it wasn’t. So today, I’m going to download a new book on Audible, go on the back deck, and just get lost in that book. Tomorrow, I’m going to spend some time with my eldest daughter, outside where we can be safe. Saturday, I’ll have an outdoor visit with my Mom.

Some people have a bucket list – things they want accomplish while they’re still on this earth. We need a new kind of list! Instead of crossing things off as you empty your bucket, this is about piling things on as you fill your well.

You can’t draw anything from an empty well. We’ve been drawing from the same well now for several months already and we’ve got to keep that well full. What are you going to pour into your well today?