Service or Selfish?

I sat down to write this blog post for tomorrow when my hubby walked into the office and asked me to go for a walk with him.

For a second, I felt conflicted: when inspiration strikes, I know it’s time to sit and write. This is the last official thing on my To Do list for today and then I’d be done.

But/and, my butt needs exercise, like, no kidding. It’s been an “in the chair, writing” day, all day.

And then I re-read what I was inspired to write about today – service or selfish. I laughed out loud and I’m pretty sure my muse guffawed with me.

I put my shoes on and went for a walk.

To me, service or selfish isn’t really a choice.

In fact, the more selfish I am about self-care and doing things I love (like kayaking or reading or traveling), the more capacity I have to be “of service” to my clients, friends, and family.

This also got me thinking about a number of clients or colleagues of mine who are very “selfish” about self-care AND are also serving their clients or family or community in significant ways:

• There’s the one who paddle boards for exercise, inspiration, and sanity. Her business is booming and she continues to get more clarity on her real niche.
• There’s the one writes and performs plays for the joy it brings her heart and soul. She “steals” the time because it matters.
• There’s the one who runs for the joy of it. Oh, and to raise money for the type of cancer he is currently personally dealing with.
• There’s the one who hikes for the quality time it gives her with her dog, her friends, and herself. And for the exercise, too.
• There’s the one who drums for state of mind it brings. She also sits with the trees and learns from them.
• There’s the one is fascinated with dough, grinds his own flour, and built a pizza oven. He’s obsessed in the best way.
• There’s also the one who surfs because if he doesn’t he feels really, really cranky.

And of course, gentle reader, this gets me wondering how YOU can endeavor to be more selfish?

Sure, there will be some trade offs, some things you must say NO to in order to say YES to self-care.

And…being “selfish” might actually result in your capacity for service (to your loved ones, clients, or community) deepening in ways you never anticipated.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Warmly,

Angie Mattson Stegall

PS: About the Wayfinding Journeys – I’m excited to have received a number of applications and so far I’m a BIG YES to three of them.

But with two left to fill, I’m extending the Wayfinding offering until either I fill them OR February 28th arrives and I close the offer for good. SO – if you’re interested – APPLY.