If you’ve ever been on a plane, you’ll be familiar with the safety briefing. You may have travelled so much that you carry on with whatever you’re doing and don’t bother to pay attention.
There is one part of that briefing that is crucial to life beyond the flight, the oxygen mask bit.
You know the drill: you have to put on your mask before you help anyone else. It makes total sense. And yet, in life, it is so often dismissed or ignored.
How many times have you pushed aside the need to place your (metaphorical) oxygen mask over your head and gone straight to putting it on someone else?
Take a moment to think about it and write down what comes to mind. We tend to want to help and ‘rescue’ others, and we usually do it without even realising, which means we leave ourselves last.
What if this were a plane?
If this were the case on a plane, how effective would we be? Not very much at all! (And we’ve been told that too in the briefing, but did we listen?)
Those we helped first would be thankful, but they most probably wouldn’t think of doing the same. Or it’s too late, because there’s nothing left for you. Ooof, that’s hard to think about.
Back to reality. Be kind to yourself as you read this. Have you helped others and then felt exhausted and depleted emotionally? What other feelings does rescuing leave you with?
Take a breath here. Sit with that for a second, because noticing it, actually acknowledging the emotions and the feelings, is a vital moment towards taking action that can change the patterns we have set on repeat but which are no longer serving us positively.
Coaching is a pattern interrupter
When you’ve been running on empty for years, it’s hard to see the pattern. That’s where coaching begins, not with answers, but with someone asking the right questions and bringing awareness to what those questions uncover.
A gentle interruption. A pause in the habit. The first breath of your own oxygen.
Are you ready to put your mask on first?
If something in this article resonated with you, that’s worth listening to. You don’t have to figure it out alone.
Book a free discovery call, a relaxed, no-obligation conversation where we’ll explore what’s been draining you and what might change.
Curious about why we keep rescuing? Read next: The Drama Triangle.