My first job was at 13, I taught 2 students calligraphy so I could pay my mother back, the money she was skeptical of spending in learning to write ABC :-P This, while may be common in the west, rare in India especially in middle class homes. The only ‘responsibility’ of a child was to focus on studies, excel in sports/arts ‘extra-curricular’ activities and ‘do well’, get into a ‘good’ college etc. I, on the other hand loved to learn by ‘doing’. I would find myself distracted at school. So by the time I came to Junior college, I knew I could not continue to pretend and be part of the herd. So, I would volunteer, do side jobs and pick up some skills or just enjoy myself more than I did at college. The moment I turned 18, (precisely a month after), I took up my first ‘formal’ job. It has been 2 decades since and I haven’t looked back.
Why am I sharing this? Because when I first encountered a ‘quarter-life-crisis’ I thought it was because I was in the ‘corporate sector’ and I needed to do something more meaningful. Which was largely the case but a small part of this was also a delusion that meaningful work doesn’t burn you out or will not lead to exhaustion and existential crisis. In fact, quite the opposite because when one experiences exhaustion and existential crisis in the work they ‘chose’ it’s harder to admit and one tends to ‘push through’
The group I was offering CBCT to reminded me of exactly the same thing – young leaders in the not-for-profit space, ones who chose to ‘serve’ and did not have enough of a training or practice on taking care of themselves or navigate with resilience. THIS, I would say has been my biggest motivation in extending the offering to this group.
The bottom line – we all need to learn tools and practices that can help us regulate ourselves. Know how to relax the mind and body / our nervous system and look after our own wellbeing. Which, despite being extremely valuable and important, NO school, college or organization will teach you – not because they don’t want to, some of them really do but because adults who design these places/courses/work themselves aren’t trained at this and seldom do they understand the ‘how’ of wellbeing.
Research shows that 15 mins of focussed time spent on nurturing our mind and body will help calm the nervous system, train it to regulate itself when needed and change our neural networks to form new connections in our brain structure such that this will become second nature. Imagine how wonderful it would be if we can all embark on this journey!
I’m grateful to the Compassion Corps team for the grant that made it possible for me to bring STRCTURED practices to these young group of leaders!