Hi there, come on in. This is Seriously Yourself, the podcast and I'm Ingrid Helander. 

Hi there. How are you? Come on in. I'm so glad you're here today. Today's offering on SeriouslYourself comes from some soggy strawberries in my refrigerator. See there's inspiration everywhere right? Soggy strawberries in the fridge.  I'll tell you why the other day we had family over for dinner and I made, as I do, enough food for probably three times as many people. I don't mean to do that. It's just if you cook at all and you're like me, you know, it's hard to cook for a different amount than you might be used to. So on this particular occasion I made way more than I needed and as people were leaving, my sons and families, I thought I'll make sure you grab some of that food and send it with them because they are more likely to eat it. And I did actually offer a couple of things but I got distracted and kind of forgot about it. And uh several days later I looked in the fridge and there was a big beautiful half bowl full of lovely organic sliced strawberries just sagging away in there and they made me sad. I hate to throw food away. I really do.  And I'm, I'm getting more like that. I think as I grow older and I think as I realize, you know that we really do have to care for our resources and resources around us. 

So it bugged me, you know, but I got to thinking about it in another way, on another level. And that reminded me that we're always probably going to have things in our life that we look back on and we wish that we had given or offered. That makes sense to you. Yeah. There are always going to be things in our life that we wish we had given or offered to someone who would love or appreciate those things, those offerings. And I believe that is really one of the most critical reasons that I decided to do this podcast. Not so that I could be giving and offering, although in part that's very true, but so that I could help you to really show up and offer what you know you have to offer. 

And I need to make a little disclaimer there because I think there are some of us that perhaps we offer from a place of responsibility, over-responsibility or pleasing or because we're not enough. Like there are parts of us that feel like they're not enough and so we want to offer in order to bolster our sense of being okay. And that's a very different thing. That's sort of like a burdened offering if you will, that comes from a place of pain. And I'm not saying that those offerings can't help someone because I'm sure they do and that's great. But that's not what I'm talking about here. 

What I'm talking about here is those things that are in the moment beautiful, vibrant nourishing alive and ample, that we could be easily offering. I think about those strawberries right? The day that I purchased them, slice them. You know, put them a little lemon or something and then put them in the bowl. They were gorgeous. They were really a worthy beautiful gift. But after they had sat in my refrigerator for four or five days, they were just compost. I suppose. 

What do we hold of ourselves that could be offered from a really fresh, vibrant nourishing space and would do someone good, right? That would be an inspiration to them, a help ,an aid, a community connection. What do we hold back and why? So think about that for a moment. Like what do you kind of sit on? What do you kind of retain? What do you hide away? What do you hold back about your very being, your own gifts, your own beautiful self. Those fresh, vibrant strawberries that are you, what do you hold and hide and stow away and forget about and neglect and not bring out to gift others with. Right and why? 

So take a moment and really you grab a piece of paper, take a few breaths and go to that. You know, what are those things that you know are within you that maybe you just love? You just love but you really haven't shared them or you don't share them fully or you're fearful of sharing them? I'm not saying you should run right out and share them because it seems like when we do without the permission of everything that's going on inside us. The permission of the parts of us that have withheld those things for a good long while. If we just rush out and you know, here's my new song I wrote and I'm gonna sing it on the corner of the, um street and hope, well you could do that if you feel really in tune inside like that's okay with all of you. But if you don't slow down and just get it on paper with no judgment and no sensation that you have to do it, okay? You don't have to do anything to put something down on a piece of paper or in a voice memo. If you don't like to write things down, you just are noticing, right? Like, oh, I I love to write letters but I almost never do. Or you know, I want to write a poem or I want to share my cooking ability or my guitar skills or my ability to balance a ledger, right? Whatever it is and just get them out and then notice them. Taste them a little bit like I would have tasted those berries. 

See if they still delight you and then notice why you don't share them. Why you don't offer. Why they're not given. Is it because they are absolutely personal and private and only for you and that's the gift of them, that's great, right? We need those things hold those their treasures. But if it's fear, fear that there won't be enough, right? If I had gotten worried, "oh gosh, what are we going to do without strawberries for the week"? Um which I didn't then I would have maybe needed to look at that and go, well, wait a minute. How many strawberries can I eat? Right, and shall I put those in a small dish and give the rest? So if you're afraid you won't have enough time, talent, resources in any way... really, take a look at that and notice where you can keep some back for you. It's okay, belongs to you to begin with. But then what would you like to offer? Or maybe you're afraid? And I think this actually came up for me with the strawberries, oddly. Maybe you're afraid that that offering will be rejected. Oh, we don't need strawberries. We don't need your strawberries. We won't eat them. We don't like them. We have enough, right? 

Think about that. In terms of the gifts that you've identified. When do you think they'll be turned down? And what does that mean to you? How do you make meaning of that? And then be with that and notice. Could you give a drop? Could you show up just a bit more? Could you offer it in an invitation? That sounds something like, you know, I've written a new song. Would you be interested in hearing it? Or I have a little extra time on the weekend, would you like to go for a walk? Or I know a little something about making bagels. I don't know where that came from. Would you like to learn it too? Right? Or here's my sense of humor. I'm going to share it a little more. There are many ways that we forget that we have so much to give and offer in ways that aren't painful in ways that are plentiful. And I hope for you this week that you can really think about... What will you wish that you had given or offered later? And when you land on those things, don't wait, take a moment, get a green light, notice what's the right amount, and go forward. 

So good to be with you as always, I love these times together and I hope you do too. And if you do drop me a review wherever you listen to podcasts, that would be so helpful for me. And remember SeriouslYourself the membership, I'm going to be opening up more slots more to give more to offer. And I think you will love it. I'll talk more about that later. But you can go to my website today and find out more for yourself. I'll be anxious and excited to see how you're going to show up. Let me know! Talk to you soon. Bye. 

Thank you for joining me for this episode of Seriouslyourself. To help treat yourself well each week, go ahead and subscribe to Seriouslyourself wherever you listen to podcasts, and please share this link with anyone you love who might be seeking a little more truth and delight in their lives. 

If you just can't get enough and you'd like even more goodness, you can become a part of Seriouslyourself, The Membership Community. You'll receive a monthly magazine, personal gatherings and cool little treats delivered right to your mailbox. Find out more about that on my website: https://ingridyhelanderlmft.com/seriouslyourself-the-membership/. 

And thanks to those who make Seriouslyourself special: our wonderful music is Midsummer from the album Flood by the fabulous Joel Helander. Seriouslyourself is produced by Particulate Media, K.O. Myers, Executive Producer. The ideas and inspirations come from beautiful humans like you, that I feel lucky to know. And I'm Ingrid Helander. Take good care of yourself. See you next time.