Hello, My Friends.

This week I have been thinking about self care, and what that means to our life and family.

When my children were young, I had four children under the age of four. A wise woman from the church I went to could see I was worn out trying to care for everyone. I was trying to be the “perfect” wife, mother and home maker. I was in the middle of stripping walls for repapering, breast feeding the baby, teething and toilet training, my husband at the time was away a week at a time studying to further his career. I was stressed. She took me to one side and explained to me the benefit of learning to take care of myself first, before my husband, my children, even the church. This was a lesson that took me close to ten years to actually sink in, and another ten- fifteen years to put into practice regularly.

The Goose & the Golden Egg from Aesop’s Fable

There was once a Countryman who possessed the most wonderful Goose you can imagine, for every day when he visited the nest, the Goose had laid a beautiful, glittering, golden egg.

The Countryman took the eggs to market and soon began to get rich. But it was not long before he grew impatient with the Goose because she gave him only a single golden egg a day. He was not getting rich fast enough.

Then one day, after he had finished counting his money, the idea came to him that he could get all the golden eggs at once by killing the Goose and cutting it open. But when the deed was done, not a single golden egg did he find, and his precious Goose was dead.

Can I hear you thinking, how silly is that farmer?

I want to put a self care spin on this. Imagine you are the the golden goose, you are the one who provides for your family, you create the riches, you give yourself and your family all the things that you’ve ever wanted. You tend to the emotional and spiritual needs of your family, anything they want and need you provide.

The golden eggs are the things you provide for your family. The latest xbox with the most up to date games, the television in the lounge, the house that you live in, the car that you drive.

Your time is part of being the golden goose. How are you investing your time? Are you using your time to renovate houses, restore cars, play computer games, have holidays with family, play with your children, or take time to be your wife.

The golden goose has needs, for it to continue to lay the golden eggs, it needs to take exquisite care of itself. Part of this care is the food that the goose eats, does it provide energy, and increase the overall well-being of the goose. Part of this care is the hours and quality of sleep attained. The hours of work needed to produce the golden eggs, the mental attitude of the goose determines how the goose sees what it is doing as valuable, and important. The golden goose needs to take time to rest and relax, to unwind and chill. The golden goose knows it needs to have balance, to give and receive love.

How much time and energy do you spent polishing the golden eggs, rather than looking after the golden goose?

Which is more important the goose or the egg?

The television, the holiday, the family. In balance the golden goose will produce more and be at peace and happy. Without balance the goose will be stressed and eventually will wear itself out, withering and dying, unable to produce any more eggs.

How are you taking care of your golden goose?

Are you polishing eggs to the neglect of the goose?

Until next week look after your golden goose.

Linda Codlin

#authenticlivingwithlinda

Email me at authenticlivingwithlinda@gmail.com

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email me on authenticlivingwithlinda@gmail.com