Have you ever felt like you lost your spark? Maybe you feel that way today. I often hear people say, "I've lost my spark." To them, it feels as if it's truly lost.
May this series remind you that your spark isn’t something outside of you, it’s inside you AND it's actually your responsibility to keep it alive.
The good news is you have full control to get your spark back.
This episode is the second of a series to teach you ways to use the "Art of Sweeping" practice to keep your spark alive.
Get ready to explore how dust build up in your relationships might be diminishing your spark and learn how to get it back!
I'm Karla Reeves, and this is differently. Whether you feel stuck in survival, navigating a change or seeking more for your life, may this podcast be your weekly nudge to take a risk to build a life that is uniquely bold, authentic and in alignment with your deepest values. After a decade of coaching individuals from corporate leaders to creative artists to multi-million dollar CEOs I'm convinced we are far closer than we realize to what we deeply desire, and it's a willingness to do differently that can change everything. Welcome back to another episode of differently. I'm your host, karla Reeves, and today's episode is part two of a series of three called Get your Spark Back. If you haven't listened to part one, I highly recommend you hitting pause and listening to last week's episode, as we cover the first and very important step to getting your spark back. Quick recap Often, when people reach out to explore coaching with me, they express one of their greatest desires is to get their spark back To them.
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It feels as if it's lost and maybe never to return, and like it's something outside of them. Maybe you're feeling that way today or you've felt that way in the past. Think about your spark as your spirit, your vitality, your energy, life force. It's the energy that comes from deep within, that gives you inspiration, drive, energy, desire and willingness. It's the thing that puts a spring in your step and the fire in your life. There are two important things to know. This isn't something outside of you. It's inside you. It's your responsibility as an autonomous human to do what you can to keep it alive. For many, myself included, there's a huge spiritual component to this too. I have good news for you. What I believe to be true is that it's not lost. It's inside of you and there are things you can do to keep it alive. Unfortunately, we aren't taught this, and a lot of life has likely happened and the experience feels like it's gone, but it's just trapped under a pile of life. I have a surprise for you. We've actually created a downloadable workbook to help you write your way through these exercises that you can do time and again. Remember, this isn't a once and done, but it's something that you can do on a regular basis, and I've created a workbook for you to do that. You will find a link to the free download in the show notes. So today we're talking about another way that you can get your spark back and keep it alive, specifically on the importance of sweeping and caring for your relationships.
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Relationships are the cornerstone of our lives. They bring us joy, support, a sense of belonging and so much more. I remember a client telling me years ago that her well-being was directly tied to the quality of her relationships. I find this to be so true. How about you? But here's the truth.
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Sometimes we find ourselves in a rut, feeling disconnected and lacking that spark that once ignited our relationships, or we've had awkward or unfulfilling conversation this week, or a circumstances that created an upset and some mental turmoil. It happens because our relationships are so important. They also can cause the deepest anguish, struggle, frustration, emotion and heartbreak. For Quentin and I, sweeping, which we talked about and I kind of introduced in the first episode, that has been the number one thing that has allowed us to keep falling in love again and again, and this can be true for all of your relationships and life itself. It's up to us to do the work to keep the spark alive in our relationships and all over our life. So getting our spark back and keeping it alive requires having tools to keep our relationships swept keeping them clean and clear, if you will. So how do we do this? How do we go about getting our spark back. It starts with some self-reflection and understanding of the importance of investing time and effort into our relationships. As I said before, just like our homes need constant dusting and care, our relationships require attention and nurturing to thrive. And I don't know about you, but when my relationships are going well, especially my marriage and my children, everything else works better too. And while we can't control others, we always have control about how we're thinking, perceiving things, behaving and showing up to our most important relationships. So here's how to use the tool of sweeping in your relationships.
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I'm going to cover a few of the items. The rest are going to be in that free download for you. Again, it's in the show notes. So I want you to choose a relationship, or think of a relationship, if you're driving or on the treadmill, that you'd like to give your attention to for this exercise, and then ask yourself one or more of these questions Was there a conversation that left you incomplete?
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Were you left wondering, stewing about something? Maybe there was something left unsaid, maybe there's an apology needed, et cetera. Write your answer to that question down. Do a little bit of reflection. Is there anything you promised in this relationship that you haven't delivered yet. Get in communication about that or get that complete.
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And the third one I'm going to share today, while there are a few more in the workbook, is are you feeling obligated or resentful anywhere? Sometimes this can be an indicator that there are some unwritten or old agreements that need updating inside of this relationship. And then two different kinds of questions what do you desire for this relationship? Really? Give that some thought. And then what can you do to align yourself and your behaviors more closely to that desire? And go, do that thing. There's a few more questions on here, but a regular practice of just having some reflection time on your relationship and cleaning up anything that is left unfinished or unsaid. Maybe there's gratitude you want to express.
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Sometimes we just get so busy we forget to stop and acknowledge something in our relationships. So again, more in the download for you to work through. Remember, when you change the dance in any relationship and you change how you're showing up, the other person must change their footing to you, and this is where magic happens. Remember, getting your spark back is not about grand gestures or extravagant plans or trips to the nail salon. It's about the little things, the daily acts of tending to your thinking and your words and your willingness to tend and sweep things as they happen so that the dust doesn't build up for too long. By investing time and effort into these things on a regular basis, you're investing in your own wellbeing and the quality of your relationships for the long haul.
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So join us next time for the final part of our series and remember to grab your free, get your spark back. Guided workbook. Until then, experiment with these tools and exercises and remember when your relationships are thriving, everything else in your life works better too. Hey, thanks for tuning into this episode of Differently. I hope it stirred your thinking and I invite you to take one inspired action from something that stood out to you. If you wanna hear more conversations like this, be sure to hit follow on your favorite podcast app, and if this episode could impact someone you know, please help us spread the word and pass it along. Remember new episodes drop weekly. See you next week.