This is a throwback to 2021, but the message is still just as relevant…Enjoy!
When I started empowering girls through team sports and life coaching, I
didn’t do it as a way of paying back. I empower girls because I know what it feels like
to go it alone. I didn’t have mentors, coaches, or parents who were supportive and
encouraging. I’m not whining; I’m just stating facts. Financial support was there,
but emotional support, not so much.
But make no mistake, I see value in deprivation. Without deprivation, there’s
no clear path to appreciation. Every time I help a girl realize how strong and capable
she is, it’s like I’m helping my own middle/high school self. I love the full circle-
ness of my deprivation creating the motivation to give other girls what I lacked.
This deprivation to appreciation focus runs through my life. For instance,
most of us don’t appreciate indoor plumbing, it’s just the status quo. It was only
when I started life coaching clients in South Africa that I began to see turning a
faucet to get clean water as a gift. I don’t have to wait for the water truck to arrive
and then haul the jugs back to my house for water to cook and bathe. My friends
weren’t complaining about their lack of plumbing. In fact, they are the most
generous, kind, and joyful people I know.
In my work on this side of the world, I find the deprivation that affects most of
my clients has more to do with quiet than plumbing. We suffer from a lack of peace
and stillness. Stillness is a balm to an anxious brain. It allows us to see that we create
our own peace deprivation, and we can change that.
We don’t have to quit all screens and sit in lotus pose to get the benefits of
deprivation. We can start with delaying our gratification or attaching it to something
that we know is good for us. Instead of watching a show while sitting on the couch,
you can delay it until you ride a stationary bike or walk on a treadmill. That way, you
can pair a guilty pleasure with something that will pay dividends in stress, and butt,
reduction.
Once you’re creating little pockets of time through delayed gratification,
maybe you fill that space with meditation. I love Headspace because you can start
with a 1-minute meditation. By depriving yourself of screen and phone time, you will
begin to appreciate stillness. Notice how much that stillness improves your clarity
when you plug back into life.
I am most appreciative of you, dear readers. I remember a time when my
audience was only people related to me. Your continued support feels like a virtual
hug to my past and current self, thank you!
XO
Terri
P.S. Where can you build a little deprivation-to-appreciation in your life? Tell me all about
it! Want help with that? Go here for LIFE COACHING
