1376: On keeping your own light lit

For today's episode we're diving into why keeping your own light lit is the opposite of selfish, and leaning into what we know works for us.

Episode transcript:

Good morning, Daily Peppers, and a very happy Tuesday to you. This week here on the Daily Pep to celebrate my latest project, the Hope Revival. It is officially Hope Week, and today we are talking about keeping our own lights lit. So often when it comes to making the world a brighter place, we think about all the things that we want to do in benefit of others. We think about who needs our help, how could we give it to them, and what part we could play in making the world a little bit kinder. The thing is though, often we forget that we play a huge role in that. And while we might have the best intentions when it comes to helping other people, if we don't also help ourselves, that can have not so great consequences. I'd imagine that burnout is pretty familiar among us around here.

And I don't know about you, but I have definitely over committed to many things in my life. And again, I did it with the best of intentions. But there's definitely been times where I've ended up letting people down because I haven't been honest to myself about my own bandwidth. And that is a really hard one for a lot of us to accept. And also I didn't want to let other people down. And the irony is, by saying yes to too many things, I ended up letting people down. Anyway, yesterday we talked about how hope is not a fluffy thing. And the idea of us keeping our own light lit isn't fluffy either.

It's not kind of some added extra. It's not a nice to have. It's certainly not selfish, but very essential if we want to keep going. And also if we want to have some joy in our own lives. There tend to be some things that really fan the flame more than others. So for today's episode, I really want to invite you to think about what are the things that you need to keep yourself going, what are the things that fuel you? And they don't have to be impressive, they don't have to help anybody else, and they might not make sense to anybody else. And that's kind of the point of it. It only has to work for you.

I often say that the magic happens in the intersection of the things that light ourselves up and light other people up. And if you've only got the bandwidth for one, start with what lights you at first, because joy and courage tend to be very infectious. And what if we could change the world not by completely depleting our own resources and burning ourselves out, but by pouring into ourselves and being fully ourselves. And today's quote is in honour of and in memory of the fabulous late Andrea Gibson, who wrote, “I know you think this world is too dark to even dream in colour. But I've seen flowers bloom at midnight. I've seen kites fly in grey skies. And they were real close to looking like the sunrise. And sometimes it takes the most wounded wings, the most broken things to notice how strong the breeze is, how precious the flight.”

Here's to holding onto hope. And I'll see you tomorrow.

Transcription automatically produced by Castmagic.io

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A short, snappy and sassy daily podcast to keep your internal - and external - dreamshitters at bay!

The Daily Pep! is the rebel-rousing, daily podcast for couragemakers, creative, multi-passionate and unconventional women. If you’re surrounded by people who don’t get who you are or what you do, if you want reminders you’re on the right path (no matter how scary it feels), or you’re sick of being your very own worst enemy, this is the podcast for you.

Every weekday, your host - writer, coach and professional rebel-rouser - Meg Kissack helps you build a creative and wholehearted life, one day at a time. Through short and snappy insights, reminders and stories, The Daily Pep! is here to remind you you’re not alone, and that everything changes when you believe you matter. Each episode is short and snappy, designed to fit in with (or help you start) your habits and routines.

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