Yesterday I contemplated the idea hiring someone to help with the stuff I want and/or need help with. And it occurred to me that if I did hire someone (even if all I did is hire myself) I would be the one in charge. I would be in a supervisory position. I would be the boss, the leader.

And I had an epiphany!

I am already in a supervisory position. I might not be the boss at work, but I AM the boss of my life. I am the one in charge of me. I might not be in charge of what happens to me, I might not be in charge of the people and situations that unfold around me, but I am in charge of me, and I am the ONLY one in charge of me. I am the boss of myself.

So, if an alien space ship lands, and a small green man appears and says, “Take me to your leader.” I can respond with confidence, “I am the leader.”

And now I have questions!

What kind of a boss am I? Am I the chairman of the board? The CEO? Am I a dictator? The president? Maybe I’m the captain of the good ship Shirley Twofeathers? Is it a pirate ship?

What is my leadership style when it comes to me and my life? Am I constantly quashing rebellions and mutinies? Is there freedom of speech? Voting rights? A constitution?

Am I secretly waging guerilla warfare against the leader of my life? Fighting myself every step of the way? And why? What am I fighting for? And if I am waging a war of resistance, what am I resisting? Do I need to remember that the captain always goes down with the ship? Maybe some teamwork is in order?

What about you?

What is your leadership role when it comes to your own life? What is your management style? Do you need to lead a revolution? Or maybe quash a rebellion? If you were your own BEST boss, what would that look like? What would you change? What would stay the same?

If you were in a supervisory position in the work place, would you treat your employees better than you treat yourself? Are you more considerate to coworkers and underlings than you are to yourself? What would you want your actual boss at work to do or provide for you as part of your job that you don’t do or provide for yourself at home or in your personal life?

What would happen if you supervised yourself in the ways you would want to be supervised when on the job? What would you do differently? How would your life change for the better?

Lots of stuff to think about for sure!

So, for today I would like to suggest that we spend some time figuring out just how it is that we rule our lives, how we treat ourselves, and and just what our leadership style is. What seems to be working and where it falls apart.

There’s a saying, “large and in charge.” What does it mean?

Dominating or controlling a situation with confidence and aplomb. Sure, as the captain of your ship, you are the one to blame when things go wrong or fall apart, but you are also large and in charge when they go well.

I’m thinking that being large and in charge goes hand and hand with Radical Self Care. Taking charge of our lives with confidence, taking responsibility, doing whatever is needed to successfully navigate stormy weather as well as the doldrums, when there is no wind in your sails.