Monday, June 08, 2009

RECLAIMING YOURSELF

This weekend I went on a retreat with six other women, four of whom I had never met before. So I left Friday feeling a little nervous about how the weekend would unfold, and with my British reserve, not wanting to give away too much of myself.

It turned out to be an amazing experience, as we opened up and shared our lives with one another. There was laughter, there were tears. Five of us owned our own businesses, so we understood the pressures we each faced, while another had gone through hell and back with the demise of a family business.

Even though we didn’t know each other, we were able to reach out and provide support, share words of wisdom and talk about our wishes for the future. But what really struck me was that as quick as we were to tell each other to stop putting ourselves last on the “to do” list, none of us were very good at taking our own advice.

We are all so busy in the fast lane of life, that we forget to slow down and take the scenic route. But this weekend, as we soaked in the beauty of the heron on the lake, the beautiful sunset and the camaraderie of like-minded women opening up to share their truths, we took time to stop, pause and regroup.

We’d put ourselves first for a change, and as someone said, we “walked into lives.”

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