Tolerations: The Big Drain
Tolerations are small and big annoyances that you put up with day after day, year after year or time and time again. You know what I am talking about already. The time spent on tolerations is time taken away from the things that matter most. A toleration can be a person, place, thing or event. They are the things that make you sigh, roll your eyes, leave you speechless or screaming in the night. At times, they are such a part of your life that you know longer react to them. Sometimes they are the things you put up with or 'handle' for others because you do not want to see them fail or get hurt.
One thing for sure, they deplete your energy, compromise your happiness or get in the way of attaining well being and balance. Everyone has tolerations, but it is the management and elimination of them that will make the difference between living abundantly and living with joy limiting concessions. Believe me, it takes work to become a Toleration Slayer, but I promise you, once you start the quest, you will not want to turn back.
As a Life Coach, one of the first exercises I have clients work on is toleration removal. It is an important step in making positive life changes as it identifies the areas where you are spending unproductive time and compromising self-care. It is an awakening activity that may help you to better understand why you are stressed, unhappy and overwhelmed.
The good news is that you have the power to conquer tolerations. Eliminating them will free up time for the things you want to do. You will be surprised at how many things and people clog up your time and how many concessions you make on a regular basis.
The toleration exercise involves creating a list of about 25 problems, things and people you are tolerating and putting in place an action plan to eliminate or address them a couple at a time. To inspire you, make a list of the benefits if the items on the list were eliminated. What you will find is that there will be some just-do-it items that you will address because they are easy. Address them and consider them quick wins. There will be some on the list that by eliminating them eliminates more than one item on the list. Go for it! Think about your benefit list and keep going.
- You no longer allow toxic relationships into your life.
- You water your plants regularly instead of letting them die and replacing them with a new set
- You have more time to spend with people that support you instead of those who tear you down.
- You stop spending time trying to manage things outside of your control. You use the Circle of Care.
- You now expect (and get) help from other family members to maintain the house.
- You no longer tolerate disrespect when someone is talking to you.
- You will not be a member of any club, group or association that is not well organized and productive.
- You no longer wait for an hour alone in a restaurant waiting for your chronically late friend.
The most important thing is awareness and action. There are so many benefits for wiining a victory over tolerations. Try it; you may be making one of the best moves of your life. Reclaim your power and choose how you spend your time. Tolerate tolerations no more! |
