What Are You Tolerating?

By Author: Christy Donner
Total Articles: 3
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This article discusses the benefit of eliminating tolerations.
Sometimes before we can start to work on our significant life goals, we need to clear space for great things to come into our lives. We all lead fast paced lives today, and I have found that it becomes very helpful to look at what things we are tolerating, and to start to eliminate these energy drains of our lives. Every action we take uses energy. What we don't always recognize, is that the actions we don't take use energy as well. It may be mental or emotional energy, but it's energy that could be used in a more positive way. Tolerations are what we put up with...the unfinished business of life. They make us irritable and wear us down. The word "toleration" is a common term in the coaching community. Based on the definition of the words "to tolerate" that speaks of putting up with or allowing things, the word toleration was coined to represent what we allow in our lives. When we are tolerating things about our environment, ourselves, or others around us, we do not have the peace we need for a secure foundation. Tolerations can be large or small. ...
... They can range from the unorganized closet or the button that has fallen off your sleeve, to the illness you've put off seeing a doctor until it's serious, or a difficult boss. The dent in my fender and the ants in my bathroom have been high on my list! I'm happy to report that the exterminator came last week, and my car has now been repaired! And I'm smiling! One way to address the subject of tolerations is to list the things in your life that are stressing you or destroying your peace. Include even things that seem impossible to change at present. Just the process of writing them down will make an impact by taking them off your mental "to do" list. Once you have a list of what you are tolerating, your challenge is to handle the tolerations. Look for a pivotal toleration, something you are putting up with that when handled, will resolve other tolerations automatically. An example of this might be making more money, which could be used to replace the unreliable car, hire a housekeeper for the messy house, etc. The number of excuses for not dealing with tolerations seems limitless. I have yet to meet a person who does not have some valid extenuating circumstance: a large business, a small child, a large family, a serious illness, a demanding or unpredictable profession, a spouse in such a profession. While we can allow ourselves the luxury of using these valid excuses, choosing to deal with the tolerations is a more powerful strategy. It may take a year or two to handle everything on the list but the benefits make the process of dealing with tolerations worthwhile. When you eliminate what drains you, you make the space for what is really important. About the Author Christy Donner, owner of Innovative Strategies Coaching, specializes in coaching people in life and career transitions. She is a graduate of Coach U and Career Coach Institute, and holds the designations of Associate Certified Career Coach from CCI and Certified Professional Resume Writer from PARW/CC.