Not every day goes as planned. Recently I put a great deal of effort into a proposal for my work. In my eyes, it really fit with the organisational strategy, and I was really pleased with it. 24 hours before the proposal needed to be submitted, I was informed that the project didn’t align and that the org wasn’t going ahead with it.
Pretty simple, really.
It was, of course, disappointing. But here is where my cycle supported me.
I know where I am in my cycle, and on day 22 of my cycle, I am aware that I can be a bit feisty and a little emotionally vulnerable. Not the best combination for a knockback.
However, I am able to tap into the strengths that appear in this phase and use this to pivot to a place of positivity and joy. And instead of wallowing in a space – that once I could have quite happily stayed, I have already been able to shift to place that is better for me (and others around me quite frankly!).
Here are the steps I took:
- I took a deep breath and caught the thoughts that were filling my head. By doing this I was able to recognize I was moving into a negative space. But through breathing deeply I was able to settle my thoughts and my emotions.
- I did something creative – I love to draw – I am pretty ordinary at it, but I enjoy it. So I sat that night with my sketch book and did some drawing. Why does this help? Firstly, this phase is very creative, so by doing this it embraced the strengths of the phase and allowed me to bring joy to me. And secondly, it distracted me with something that was completely different to work, allowing me to see that my work is just a part of my life and it does not take up all of me.
- Celebrated – the next day at my work, my co-worker and I celebrated the time we had gained back, allowing us to work on other things.
This is the power of understanding your cycle and knowing what tools to use at different phases of your cycle to support you to move through. It was truly empowering.
I still am in awe at how easy it is and how powerful this is for me. So grateful to have this internal tool and understanding.
By understanding what phase you are in, you are able to take more control of your everyday and feel joy and strength in your decisions.