Enter
"Joy Slinger"
You may not know this about me, but I am the self proclaimed "Joy Slinger." Now, you can imagine that this title lends itself to some scrutiny for a whole host of reasons. First, what kind of industry do I belong to? Us humans need everyone and everything to sit in categories so we can decide what we think about them. And, you can imagine how challenging it would be to attend a networking event and give an elevator pitch (30 seconds or less) on what joy slinging is and the outcomes you might achieve by practicing this. Not going to lie, it has been interesting. And the faces I get, everything from deer in the headlights to what the what is she talking about?!
The most amazing thing happened this morning, though, I heard a succinct explanation of what I do, "I teach the cessation of suffering!" (I thought that was worthy of an exclamation point!)
What does this mean? Let's break this down. The definition of cessation is: "process of ending or being brought to an end." The definition of suffering is: "the state of undergoing pain, distress or hardship." In a broad sense suffering is an experience of unpleasantness and aversion associated with the perception of harm or threat of harm.
What are the real world examples of suffering, since we are likely not faced with physical harm? Well, suffering, at least for me, used to look like: overthinking every decision, being upset by what my employees were doing/not doing correctly, stressed about client complaints, worried about coming up with payroll, feeling like there is not enough time to get everything done, overwhelmed by the amount of emails I received, lack of quality time with loved ones, rushing from place to place, being physically present and emotionally elsewhere, an overall sense of not getting everything done or not feeling like I did it well enough.
See, I didn't realize that my life had become a hamster wheel of same experiences over and over again and I also didn't realize that a different, more meaningful and purpose filled life was available. Enter joy slinging as an option! It didn't happen all at once, the realization that I could be predominantly in a state of joy, it was gradual and I was resistant! This is exactly why I teach this, because we aren't taught that it is an option and for sure not taught how to achieve it. If this strikes a chord with you at all let's hop on a call and discuss further. When are you free next week?
Peace,
Erin "no longer on the treadmill of life" Mac