Join me live Wednesday. 8/2 at 430pm.

,“if you cannot speak if your mouth is stuffed with unchewed food, how can you think clearly if your mind is stuffed with undigested information?” - Mark Nepo

I’ve spoken many times of the need to fill our cups. I’ve used every metaphor imaginable such as, “you need to make sure full before you fill any one else, “you can’t run on empty”, and “you can’t pour from an empty cup”. 

But I had a thought recently which was: maybe we’re overstuffed and that's why we have no more room?

Maybe, we need to empty our cups. Maybe we know too much - we have too much information and we can’t assimilate its nutrients any more. Maybe, all the knowledge we have is sitting in our minds like a big meal that won’t digest properly no matter what we try. 

Maybe our cups are becoming toxic and its time to scrub them clean.

Worry, rumination, anxiety. These are all symptoms of circular attempts to problem solve. But as beautiful as the mind is at solving a problem, wisdom is better fed by stillness.

I can live in my head and there's nothing unique to this. We all at times suffer the brutality of anxiety. The sheer pain of sorting, sifting and replaying conversations, fears, doubts, and desires. We are all trying to figure “it” out. But as someone who has worked with countless women, I’ve come to recognize myself in all of them in particular ways: an overwhelming addiction to safety and certainty that I can only describe as being part of our DNA. We are wired to make sure we are safe. That our children are sound and fed. It’s our maternal instinct, and when there is no real child to speak of, this loving energy redirects to our partner, our friends, our pets, our family and clients. A lot of worrying and a lot of giving. 

And here we are, marrying later in life, some juggling both parenthood and entrepreneurship, attempting to wear many more hats than we ever have because we can, and because we feel that whisper of longing inside ourselves towards a deeper purpose. Purpose and motherhood. Purpose plus partner. Purpose and yet wishing we could take a break and just be. And this is our conundrum. Emptying our cups is required to balance out our delicate, easily reactive hormones and GO GO GO will whack them out. (Men, I hope this gives you a little insight into us:))

The accomplishment is hidden in the stillness.

Woman or man, we need to empty.

Whatever outcome we’re attached to is not worth what we think it is worth. Let’s all take some time outs so we can digest and assimilate and yes, so we can figure it out.

To getting quiet and letting go of the cup.

Here's to whatever it is you truly need.

All my love,JillianPast essays:Forgiving a ParentPeople pleasingHealthy vs Unhealthy Relationship Silent Killer of our Emotional Health