Connect With Care

Whether you’re a college student, executive leader, or retiree, chances are good that the end of the year may bring with it enhanced stress. Of course, this time of year can bring with it a lot of joy too. The approaching new year often signifies opportunity for new beginnings, and the holidays often offer opportunity for gathering, reconnection, and celebration with family and friends.

Which creates the ultimate paradox.

The very things that are contributing to the joy and excitement are the very things that can initiate the stress.

We hurriedly rush from one event to another. We exhaustingly prepare to ensure for the “perfect" gathering. And we mindlessly interact with each other because we have so many items on our mind.

Thus, our connections may not only feel rushed, but also be rooted in a place of transaction, and not care.

Considering such, the challenge for this (Thanksgiving) week is to place an emphasis on how you connect with others, and be purposeful about doing so with an authentic care.

The challenge: connect with care!

Even if you don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, or won’t have the opportunity to be with family or friends this holiday, this challenge is still a useful one to engage with. Because when you connect with others through a deepened care, not only will you enhance the quality of your relationships, but you will also improve your mental well-being.

Loneliness is said to be at an all time high. People are feeling more and more isolated. And although it may be difficult to narrow in on just one contributing factor, the “connectedness” we have to our devices undoubtedly plays a part in our lack of connectedness to self and others. As you may recall, we hosted Stanford Psychiatrist and Author of Dopamine Nation, Dr. Anna Lembke, for an interview in Mindful Journey a few years ago, and her research and insights indicated such. Social media and the technological advances we have are a great thing. However, as Dr. Lembke noted, we’ve become reliant on them to just feel “normal.” When we’re at red lights, we go to them. When we first wake up, while we’re eating, and sometimes even while we’re talking with others, we revert to our devices.

This week, promise yourself that you’ll revert to connection and not distraction. When you’re talking with others around the dinner table, be in the moment. Ask them genuine questions and care deeply about their responses. When you’re at a meeting for work, or talking with some of your team members, strive to be immersed in the conversation and be intentional about putting your phone away or in a place where it won’t be a distraction. 

Care may be tough to measure, but it's easy to feel. So when you’re working to complete this challenge, focus less on wondering “am I caring enough?” or “am I connecting well?” and more on how you feel about yourself and how you perceive others are feeling in your presence. Because this will be the “measuring stick” for how well you’re completing the challenge.

The intention of this challenge, very simply, is to help you slow down so you can be more deliberate in your connections, and to ensure you don’t overlook the daily opportunities you are provided to meaningfully connect.

Have a great week and wishing you the best as you connect with care!