What's in your salad?

Imagine that you just made a salad.

                                Bear with me here and don't write me off just yet.

Now imagine what that salad entails.  In mine: I see spinach, lettuce, cranberries, tomatoes, walnuts, feta, and a vinaigrette ...yumm I'm hungry. 

Now you have this salad in front of you, and company comes over for dinner. Some of your visitors might hate spinach.  No problem, just pick out the spinach when you serve them.  Some might hate cranberries.  Again, you can get them a bowl and pick out the cranberries... You get the picture. 

So what happens if your salad consists of just one ingredient?  If it's a spinach salad and your company hates spinach?  What would you do then?

Well now imagine that salad is you.  The ingredients that you put in the bowl are actually all the roles you identify in yourself.
                                          
If you see yourself as an excellent professional, for example.  What happens when you lose your job or you get a new boss who hates spinach? 

It can be devastating.

For most of us, our identity is impacted by the roles we play.  The positive reinforcement we get, whether monetarily or other, motivates us to continue in that role.  This is actually quite healthy as long as we have more than one role and the roles balance each other.

The struggle happens when our identity is only from one specific role.  It could be as a student, or a professional, or a mother, etc. 

Let's say my identity came from praise and promotions in my career.  What would happen if I loose my job or find myself under a boss who, for some reason, just doesn't like me?

I would be lost.

Losing a job or having a difficult boss will impact you.  In fact, it is a common cause of depression.  But when you have other sources to pull positive energy from, it motivates you to get back up and not give up on yourself. 

Do some introspection and ask yourself how do you assess your self worth?  What would happen to that self worth if one of those ingredients were removed?  Now imagine what would happen to your self worth if there was only one ingredient.


So where can you find your balance?  It can come from various sources:  family, friends, a talent, career, volunteer work, faith, a religious institution, community involvement, exercise and wellness...the list is endless.


The variety not only will add flavor to your life, but it will help balance you and support you through tough times.

Realize that all the components of your salad are not the same in size or value, but each plays an essential role in the final product.

Be picky about the things you choose to invest your energy in, and understand that some of them will change over time.  Just never stop exploring, growing, or savoring your creation.