Dear reader, I hope you’ve scheduled some personal time for this weekend. If you’re reading this, that is a good sign that your health is important to you (or maybe you just really love me). You’ve made an awesome commitment, and I’m proud of you! Health and wellness is something every person should prioritize, since it dictates our whole life. I’m going to ask you to do yourself a favor this week.
You work hard. Life demands everything from you and sucks your energy away. Hopefully most of that energy goes into things that fill your heart with joy: family and friends, creative projects and talents, fun opportunities. However, you and I both know that rarely happens. By the weekend, we’re spent and ready to relax. What I’m asking is for you to take this precious time and put it into something that will benefit you, instead of vegging on the couch.
Treat yourself! With your precious free time, fill it with what you’ve been wanting to do. Fill it with something that is special and different than your normal routine. Get a massage. Read a good book. Listen to a new album. Paint a room. Ride your bike. I want you to do something that benefits you. I want you to do it at your own pace, too. If you’ve been dying to try out your new car on some backroads, go and speed along without anyone else to tell you to slow down. Maybe you want to break out your easel and paints and disappear for a day--don’t guilt trip yourself into letting the kids into the studio and taking up all your time and creativity. This brief moment in time I want to be all about you.
No, it isn’t selfish. Yes, your kids might whine a bit. Remember that you work hard and that it is not only okay, but necessary to cut out personal time for yourself. It can be very restorative and invigorating. It will pour fulfillment and ease into your life.
You deserve a little get-away. Don’t deny yourself, and don’t waste your energy on worthless and wrongly placed guilt for giving time back to yourself. You’d do the same for people you love, so remember that you love yourself, too, and give this gift.
If we all take a little time on occasion to slow down and work on ourselves, over time we will have more to offer. You’ll finish that great hand-carved kitchen table and enjoy all the people around it. You’ll master a new skill. You’ll feel healthier physically and emotionally and have a better version of yourself to share.
This life is all we have, so we really need to invest in ourselves. If we want to get the most out of our time, energy, and natural gifts, we have to prioritize those great needs. You are so worth it!
Have you called up the masseuse yet? What the heck are you still here for? Go!
Live well,
Katie
P.S. It’s finally been warm enough that I felt confident to get my potted plants into the ground. My mom gave me two blueberries and two grapes (and some other plants that didn’t last the winter) last fall. I have the crazy, burning gardening itch to play in the dirt (if you haven’t noticed) and gleefully dug some holes in my lawn for my little plants.
First, I pruned them up on a sunny afternoon. The grapes had some dead shoots and the blueberries needed a little bit of growing guidance as well. They look ready to take off now! They even budded out dramatically just a few days after the prune. Healthy cuts direct the plant’s energy into productivity.
I got those babies into their holes and covered them with woodchips. They look so happy to be planted! I want to train my grapes to go up and get some wire fence or something that they can grow on, so I zip tied them in the general direction I need them to go.
"Treat Yo Self" Love it!! Such a great post! You're right, it's so important to refuel yourself. When I do this I give more lovingly to my family and feel like I have so much more to give because I'm so filled up. When I was a younger mother I didn't do this enough and would be so overwhelmed sometimes and start to feel angry and resentful of the time I was pouring into everyone else's lives and I would get burned out. Usually, that sort of burn out resulted in getting sick. Getting sick gave me the time to recover and regenerate, but who wants to regenerate by getting sick?!! Then I discovered it was okay to put myself first sometimes and get the needed refueling so I could be there for my family with all the love I have all the time. To treat myself, I would go buy a good book, take myself to dinner and sit there reading in the restaurant and eating all by myself. At first I felt so guilty for doing this "alone time" thing; but then I started to understand the benefits of the little bit of time away from my kids and husband was giving to them, too, because they had a much happier momma and wife. It turned out to be a benefit for all of us. Happy wife and mom makes for happy family all around.
ReplyDeleteAs usual, great post!