Taking Stock - What Would My Friends Say?

This month we look at the subject of ‘Taking Stock.’

The Collins English dictionary describes the phrase as:

“to pause to think about all the aspects of a situation or event before deciding what to do next”

This seems a good definition. When we think of taking stock in a wellbeing setting we are thinking about those times when we take time for ourselves and consider how life is.

Taking Stock of our wellbeing might mean that we follow this simple process of reflection.

• Pause: stop for 5 minutes and find some space to be still.

• Think: spend some conscious time thinking about how you are and how things are going.

• Consider ‘all aspects’ of things - your emotions and feelings but also how your body is, how your soul is, what life means to you right now.

• Do something - what one action might you take from your time of Taking Stock?

new perspective

Now that all sounds a lot simpler than it is in practice. Sometimes it’s very hard to pause and think about life. How can I realistically take in all aspects of things? And doing something is always much harder than it sounds.

One useful approach is consider things from someone else’s perspective. We are usually much better at helping friends than we are at helping ourselves. But what if you imagining sharing about your wellbeing with a friend. What might they say?

I sometimes imagine a conversation with a trusted friend as a way of taking stock.

As I pause, think and consider everything I imagine sharing those details with the friend I have in mind. I then ask what would they say in response?

Why not give it a try?

1. Pause and think about your wellbeing.

2. Consider everything about it and imagine telling a friend or even writing a letter to them?

3. Then think, what would they say in response?

4. What does their response teach you about life right now?