"I've got a secret to tell you." My younger daughter tells me.
Then she proceeds to tell it to me, as we are lying down for our night-time snuggle.
"Thank you for telling me," I say, as I give her a hug.
She tells me that she had kept the secret for a long time because there are times when I am busy working and she doesn't want to interrupt, and she worries that I will get annoyed.
I realised then that these little bids for connection were lost on me, in the busy-ness of getting emails done, going on calls.
As a result, she kept something in her heart, until the 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘆 of that evening snuggle and much more present me, till she allowed herself to reveal it.
We hear this word "𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘆" being used alot these days. But what does it really mean?
▶ Emotional Safety: Feel secure and connected to your emotions
▶ Physical Safety: Heart rate is stable, no tension in the body
▶ Psychological Safety: Free to be authentic without being judged
When we don't feel safe, we can go into:
🥶 Freeze: Low energy, loss of motivation, fatigue, disengaged
✈️ Flight: Anxiety, short fuse, restlessness, easily overwhelmed
🫤 Coactivation: Unable to find normal and going between freeze and flight
But when we do feel safe, we can relax in the mind, body and in our relationships. We can show up as our best selves.
Which explains why, when I was more present and connected, my daughter found the courage to reveal her little secret.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘆.
Showing up as a safe human being to be around is what we can all do if we want:
🗣️ voices to be heard
😊 people to be mentally healthy
💐 workplaces to thrive
❓ What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts 👇
PS: DM me to discuss how we can work together to create a safe, positive and thriving workplace.
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