How a painful experience can be a gift !

First, I'd like to wish everyone reading this a very happy new year.?

Which?3 adjectives/intentions are you choosing to direct 2022??

For me personally, it's : Self-care, audacity and courage.?

So let me tell you a little about self-care and why it's so important:

I was hospitalized on December 23rd where I spent 4 days at the hospital and despite the pain, I considered this experience as one of the best Xmas gifts I could have imagined. I am not?kidding! I would have never imagined that being immobile for a certain period of time would be a gift, but it was for me.

I would like to take the time to thank all those who sent me kind messages and emails?wishing me a fast recovery. I know that showing vulnerability can be an uncomfortable experience for so many people; we are happy to share our successes, but less when it comes to failure and pain.

?I am grateful enough and worked hard to manage successful?projects in 2021 and I was happy to communicate openly about them. My end of the year was a bit more chaotic, but I felt the desire?to also share that with you as well. We should be comfortable sharing our downs. Doing so, can actually bring you the help you need and also show the others that being vulnerable is okay.

So let me share the lessons that I learnt from this experience:

?Lesson 1:?Self-care / Self-love!?

At this, stage, I consider this a?must! No matter what, no matter who!

?"If you don’t listen to your body when it whispers, it will have to scream to be heard"

When you hear this voice and still pretend that you did not hear anything or even worse,?you think that it will vanish by magic.?So please PLAN some moment when you literally switch off to rejuvenate and resource?yourself AND establish your boundaries and don't forget to communicate on them! Nobody can read your mind, even if sometimes we wish that.

?Lesson 2: Never be afraid to share your emotions, vulnerability and empathy.

For those who know me, I deeply believe in the power of emotions and their impact on others.?Even if we are our own saviours, it?doesn’t mean that we cannot ask for help: emotional or physical support. We don’t have to carry everything, so learning how to establish boundaries and communicating on them, is your absolute birthright.?

You cannot imagine how many messages I received from people saying that it is still very difficult for them to accept being vulnerable when, at the same time, they feel the urge to connect and create authentic impact.?

This is the reason why I do what I do. I am driven to humanize the way we work and interact with each other.

So my friend, let's tap into our emotions, yes it’s painful at the beginning, it may?even look weird but at the end magic happens.?

Mmmm it reminds me of something:?

Lesson 3: Stillness

For me, it happened at the hospital that forced me to stay still and quiet and be in another conscious state.?

Many of us think that in order to fix an issue, we need to run and get into action immediately and most of the time it works,?but for some others reasons this strategy cannot always work.

This is the difference?between?being agitated and taking conscious action. The second one requires?stillness. Frankly speaking, most of the time we are in the reaction mood right? Why? Because, it’s instinctive! So the big lesson for me is to start embracing the "slow motion mood" when needed.

I know myself, and I know that I am an action oriented person for sure, but I know that my actions will be more powerful if I practice stillness. So today, my mediation practice took another dimension.?

Lesson 4:?Self responsibility:?

We tend to overtake on our shoulders, thinking that we are responsible for everything. We are so driven to make sure that people around us are happy that we tend to forget what's also important for us. But here we have to remember the "airplane?oxygen mask analogy": take care of yourself first, and then you will be much more equipped and energized to support others around you. Yes we may feel guilty but at the end of the day it's necessary to take care of yourself in order to help the others.

This experience has been a real gift for me because it taught me to slow down, and I hope through my experience you will be more inspired to take care of yourself.

?This week I am officially back to work and would like to say thank you again to the amazing like-minded people for their kind messages, support and care. Receiving your messages and positive energy helped me tremendously, so from the bottom of my heart,

Thank you! ??