Natalie:
00:00:00
Have you checked in?
2
:
00:00:03
One, with yourself.
3
:
00:00:05
Two, with those around you.
4
:
00:00:09
Both are equally important.
5
:
00:00:12
You know, loneliness is
an epidemic right now.
6
:
00:00:17
And studies show that in the U.
7
:
00:00:18
S., one out of two Americans
have experienced some form
8
:
00:00:23
of loneliness in their life.
9
:
00:00:26
That's a staggering 50
percent of the population.
10
:
00:00:31
And that number is actually understated.
11
:
00:00:36
So it's important to check in with people.
12
:
00:00:38
Now you can't check in with everybody,
but if you just made a conscious
13
:
00:00:43
effort that once a day or once a
week, you're going to check in with
14
:
00:00:48
someone that's important to you.
15
:
00:00:51
And keep in mind not the people that
you talk to all the time, you know,
16
:
00:00:54
there's those people that you just
end up talking to throughout the week.
17
:
00:00:58
For me, it's My husband, my sister,
my parents, you know, those are
18
:
00:01:05
people I see every day or every week.
19
:
00:01:09
But then there's other friends that
maybe, maybe I talk to them weekly, bi
20
:
00:01:13
weekly, then you have some friends that
you talk to once a month, then you have
21
:
00:01:17
some friends that you really only talk to
once a year or twice a year, you can still
22
:
00:01:20
check in with them even if they're not a
part of your regular day to day routine.
23
:
00:01:26
Because we all need to care
about each other and we all
24
:
00:01:29
need that human connection.
25
:
00:01:32
And I'm sure everybody knows how
good it feels when someone just
26
:
00:01:36
messages you out the blue and says,
Hey, I was thinking about you.
27
:
00:01:40
I hope you're okay.
28
:
00:01:42
For me, I have a student
who checks in on me.
29
:
00:01:47
I would say maybe three times a
year if I was to give it a guess.
30
:
00:01:52
And this was a student I taught
in my very first year of teaching.
31
:
00:01:55
So it's been a long time and
he still checks in on me.
32
:
00:02:00
And I remember sending him a
message to my last message.
33
:
00:02:03
I said, thank you so much
for even remembering me.
34
:
00:02:05
Like, I don't know how I come to your
mind this many years after you've
35
:
00:02:09
graduated and you still check on me.
36
:
00:02:12
And I appreciate that so much.
37
:
00:02:15
And I'm going to make a conscious
effort to try to check on him
38
:
00:02:18
next time before he checks on me.
39
:
00:02:21
But nonetheless, it's so
good that he checks on me.
40
:
00:02:24
And so it's a reminder for you
to check in on other people.
41
:
00:02:29
And even today, I decided to
check in on a friend who I
42
:
00:02:34
hadn't heard from for a while.
43
:
00:02:37
I remember saying, I sent a voice
note to say, Hey, you know, thinking
44
:
00:02:41
of you, hope everything is good.
45
:
00:02:43
And then they responded
back with an emoji, heart.
46
:
00:02:48
And I said, huh, that friend
usually would say more.
47
:
00:02:52
So then I decided to just,
just go a little bit deeper and
48
:
00:02:54
said, how, how are you doing?
49
:
00:02:57
And then, you know, that friend shared
that they had kind of been going
50
:
00:03:00
through a lot over the last month.
51
:
00:03:03
So sometimes taking that check
in to the next level can really
52
:
00:03:07
be a little bit more impactful.
53
:
00:03:10
Or maybe a lot more impactful,
just depending on the situation,
54
:
00:03:13
but not for much more effort.
55
:
00:03:17
And then, when you've checked
in with others, also take the
56
:
00:03:20
time to check in with yourself.
57
:
00:03:23
And for this one, I don't want you to just
ask yourself, like, how are you feeling?
58
:
00:03:26
I really want you to, you
know, Spend some time on this.
59
:
00:03:29
It could be in a journal, or it could
just be a self assessment, but something
60
:
00:03:32
on paper, so that we can confront what's
in our head and see it in front of us.
61
:
00:03:37
And really sit down and go through
different key areas of your life.
62
:
00:03:42
I do have a wellness assessment
that is linked in the show notes
63
:
00:03:45
so you can always download.
64
:
00:03:48
But I want you to think of the key areas
of your life that impact your well being.
65
:
00:03:53
Just ask yourself, how are you
doing in each of those areas?
66
:
00:03:57
And it doesn't matter what
information comes back.
67
:
00:03:59
You might be at a zero or one out of ten.
68
:
00:04:01
That's okay.
69
:
00:04:03
It's just information so that you
know where you might need to put
70
:
00:04:07
some extra attention and effort to.
71
:
00:04:10
Or maybe you're great in all
the areas and you don't need
72
:
00:04:12
to put attention to anything.
73
:
00:04:14
But you won't know until you pause
and do that intentional check in.
74
:
00:04:18
So check in with yourself,
check in with others.
75
:
00:04:21
And until next time, continue to
serve yourself, your loved ones, and
76
:
00:04:24
your communities from a full cup.
