We sometimes look back over our lives and we wonder if the wrong decisions we made or the opportunities we missed all lead to wasted experiences in our lives. The question often arises, what if I did not do something or what if I did actually grabbed the opportunity instead of letting it pass me by? Today we consider the concept of wasted experiences as I reflect on a few thoughts.
I had the opportunity to be involved in a corporate wellness day alongside another therapeutic reflexologist. As part of the wellness day, there are usually other healthcare providers as well as nurses, cancer care, optometrists, massage therapists and so forth. As we walked into the meeting room, the one male nurse and I locked eyes and we immediately recognised each other, but just could not immediately place each other. Isn’t it funny when we sometimes recognise somebody, but just because it is not in the usual environment, we have some difficulty remembering where we know each other from?
It took a few minutes and a bit of conversation and we realised, we met each other years ago when we were both involved working for another company. Here we were offering healthcare services to a corporate environment side-by-side as independent contractors, yet we crossed paths in the past. If we both were not involved in the previous organisation, we would not have known each other.
That made me realise, there is no such thing as wasted experiences. Every single experience you have is adding value to your life at some point, even if it is only a networking opportunity where you had the privilege of connecting with another professional.
Looking back over my life, I made a few wrong decisions and paid the price for these mistakes and at other times I grabbed opportunities in the midst of the fear of stepping out of my comfort zone that ended up to be excellent decisions. As I think back I was contemplating the fact that I worked for six years in an organisation before deciding to leave to begin my own private practice in therapeutic reflexology. What a good decision it was to enter a private practice.
Now the question emerges: Was the six years I spent working as an employee in another company a wasted experience, especially since I now work for myself and no longer for an employer? The answer is easy: NO! There is no wasted experiences.
If I have not worked for the previous company in the healthcare industry, I would not have gained enough knowledge and experience to make a success of the private therapeutic reflexology practice. If I did not work in that company, I would not have the opportunity to know a fellow healthcare professional and work alongside him in a corporate environment years later; the company connected us. If it was not for the fact that I worked for the company and accompanied the CEO on meetings with the ministers, I would not have the boldness to contact the minister and arrange a meeting for the PhD research that I’m busy with. All experiences work together to add value to our lives; there is no such thing as wasted experiences. Sometimes we just need to take the time to put things in perspective and realise the value our decisions and experiences are adding to our lives.
With that said, the next thing to consider, is the healthcare modality of therapeutic reflexology. Is it a wasted experience to offer up an hour of your life in order to receive a therapeutic reflexology session? Let’s not go into the healthcare benefits of therapeutic reflexology today, but let’s just consider the time spent on a session instead of using the time doing something else.
Sometimes we want to obtain a miracle from therapeutic reflexology within one session, but that is unrealistic. You cannot spend years negatively affecting your body and then expect one therapeutic reflexology session to cure it all. It takes time. Sometimes you want to go for a therapeutic reflexology session, but because you are not getting the cure you want, you rather give up future sessions instead of realising that there may be other benefits to receiving regular sessions.
Our lives are extremely busy busy busy and we often feel that we cannot spare one moment. Especially when you are self-employed and if you do not work, you are not earning an income, it is very easy to develop a mindset where you feel guilty if you are not constantly busy trying to make money. However, that is one of the most dangerous places to be, especially when you are working from home where there are no clear boundaries with regards to home life versus work life and you tend to so easily work any hours of the day or night, because ultimately you are your own boss and you feel guilty if you are not constantly working.
When being self-employed, that is something you need to deal with and overcome or else it will most probably lead to burnout in your life. Yes, self-employed people also get stressed and burned out and it so easily happens when you walk around feeling guilty every time you are not busy working. When you decided to become self-employed, I’m sure you did not do it with the intention to work permanently; I’m sure you wanted more freedom in the midst of the possible financial strains. So, enjoy life.
Do not feel guilty when you take an hour out of your day or week to spoil yourself with a therapeutic reflexology session. You deserve to look after yourself and to ensure your own health and wellbeing regardless of all the work you have to do. You also need to come to the place where you realise that you do not have to feel guilty when you spoil yourself; ultimately you are worth spending an hour a week on yourself to relax and to reduce your stress levels in order to keep you functioning optimally so the remaining hours of the week can spend much more effectively without you feeling physically, emotionally and spiritually tired.
An hour spent in a therapeutic reflexology session is no wasted experience, it is some “me-time” that you are giving yourself while you relax, destress and allowing your mind to just relax and process everything that you never give yourself time to process during all the hours you spend running around and being busy.
Remember that there are no wasted experiences and consider having regular “me-time” experiences in therapeutic reflexology sessions. Allow your therapeutic reflexologist to spoil you by giving you the needed relaxation your body, mind and spirit deserves on a regular basis.
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Christo A. Scheepers: Therapeutic Reflexologist
Dip.T.R.(Cum Laude) [IARAMT]
AHPCSA: A11945
Pr. No.: 1080000737453
Tel. 072-800 7243