How to fill the tank - don't shrink away while giving of yourself

When I saw the tagline on Facebook - "Are you ready for a life of epic love and legendary passion?" I admit, I checked it out. The picture didn't hurt, either. A beautifully smiling woman on a sunny beach. The unusual thing about the woman was that while she was beautiful - she wasn't impossibly beautiful like a fashion model or actress, she was simply beautiful, like an inner beauty was bursting at the seams and spilling out for all to see.

So I clicked the link and I signed up for the videos by e-mail list.

**Now seems like a good time to mention that this post isn't intended to make you run out and join her mailing list,unless, of course, you feel the desire to do so. This is simply my take on the points she makes.**

The first video I watched was powerful. Layla was talking about societies expectation of women.

"As women, we are expected to run, give, achieve, create, & yet be beautiful & beauty is defined by being thin. (We are expected to) disappear while giving of ourselves..." - Layla Martin. She went on to explain that while we (often) selflessly give of our time, energies and selves to others - has the tendency to leave us empty inside of ourselves.

Of course I think this is somewhat a problem for *everyone* men and women alike. However women do experience life from a different vantage point, and this particular video was dealing with women's issues in general. Just added that bit to clarify that I do not mean to be exclusionary. :-)

I can relate totally to this. Perhaps it's partially due to my introvert nature but it does seem like the world is full of people who want to take my energy for their own purposes and designs. I do feel like I'm expected to be a caregiver first and foremost. Is someone at the building I clean having a bad day? It feels like it is my duty to stand there and provide them with counsel until they calm. Not that this is always something I don't want to do - some of the time I don't mind- but usually it is cutting in to my work time or private time, and it has only been recently in my 36 years on this planet that I have felt comfortable enough to gently tell someone that I must be somewhere, or that I need to get moving along, and, in the case of follow-alongs - sometimes I need to ignore them in order to do what I need.

And that is only 1 example. There are many.

Layla stressed the importance of finding something health to "fill" the inner space with be it dance or any other number of healthier choices.... and once we are "full" of something healthy , we minimize the urge to less healthy activities (whatever those may be to the individual).

So that is my thought of the day. Find something healthy to fill up on. Be it dance, walking, reading uplifting literature, doing a craft ,filling up in nature, or any other thing. We need our fill up list to readily available.

Link to Layla Martin. Please note a lot of her videos are sexually explicit , even the ones that don't seem to be. While she handles things in a tasteful and usually humorous fashion - it may not be to everyone's tastes , and is to be considered NSFW

https://www.layla-martin.com/laylahome/