Self Empowerment Isn't Selfish

Self Empowerment Isn't Selfish

I'm sitting on my bed typing this. I've just come home from a local petrol station with a few bottles of Coke No Sugar and a Bounty Bar Trio Pack.

Bounty bars are essentially coconut coated in chocolate.

Bounty Bar Trio Pack

Bounty bar - single exterior

Bounty bar - interior of coconut
Don't worry, I am still eating healthy, this was just an after dinner treat.

Me eating healthy food

Stir fried beef and veggies

Putting Myself First For A Change

The world needs more Jedi
There's a lot of guilt when it comes to putting myself first. I think it comes from religious conditioning in my childhood; the idea of being selfless or sacrificing my needs for someone else's.

In psychology, this is called "people pleasing" and it's considered a toxic trait. On the surface it doesn't seem toxic, the idea of helping others, but it's often an "avoidance" behaviour and it often means that my own needs get neglected.

It also meant that I was open to manipulation by "damsels in distress" (borderline personality disorder) into taking on the "rescuer role". This has happened more times than I'd like to admit throughout my life.

Self awareness is the key to personal transformation and self empowerment and I have a lot of work to do.

Health And Wealth

The first step is a diet overhaul. No, not an actual "diet" kind of diet, but just eating more vegetables and less bread, pasta, rice, but more protien and smaller portions.

Plain hamburger

I'm slowly getting back into lifting weights. I am reluctant to join a gym at the moment, but that's a possibility if one opens up near me.

Gyms can have a toxic culture to them, but the benefit of them is access to a personal trainer who can teach you how to use the machines properly and secondly, access to the equipment itself (weights, machines, etc.).

Personally I feel that people who use running machines are wasting their money. You can walk, jog or run anywhere. This is not fitness advice; please consult a professional.

Side note: It's very difficult to take a photo with one hand while holding weights in the other which is why the weight isn't heavier.

Last Friday I went to a Job Expo. It was focused largely towards high school leavers and those looking at different career options.

I came away with 15 pens and a few tote bags of information. Most of which I went through later and discarded.

14 of 15 pens

But the real benefit was from meeting with a job recruiter who not only understood neurodiversity but was also trauma informed.

We talked a lot about my recent toxic workplaces, my workplace anxiety and possible solutions. She also went over my resume and told me what a recruiter looks for in a resume and how she would have overlooked a lot of it.

We are emailing back and forth right now. It will be good to see where this goes and maybe I'll get some new opportunities.

I'm also going to reconnect with a few people who made various offers and see what they can offer.

Thank you for reading.

Shaidon

All content, including photos and text, are produced by myself unless where notified otherwise. I refuse to use A.I.