Where do you fall on your list of priorities? If you are like most moms it’s close to the end, maybe one place above stencil flowers on the driveway. That’s if you make your list at all.
With everything that our families seem to need from us it can be difficult to find an afternoon to relax, breathe and take care of ourselves. Eventually we get overwhelmed, resentful, and begin to shut down – and that isn’t any good for anyone!
Good news. You are allowed to put your own needs first once in a while! How cool is that?
Whether it is a weekly pedicure or massage, a solitary lunch, or 24 hours in a hotel by yourself, you need to take the time to handle the needs you have that no one else is going to handle for you. If not, both your emotional and physical health is going to suffer.
And if mamma ain’t happy…
If you have time to watch a television show, bake cupcakes for the PTA, or run errands for your mate, you have time to take an hour for yourself. If you are anything like me, you will be so freaked out by having free time that you’ll spend the entire hour trying to decide what to do.
Make a list.
Spend the first hour making a list of the things you would love to do but don’t have time for and categorize them by how long it will take to accomplish them. Maybe you just want to eat a quiet lunch at your favorite Thai restaurant – the one your family refuses to go to. List that under things you can do in an hour. If you’ve wanted to tour the local winery, list that with other activities that take an afternoon.
Each week create a pocket of “Me Time†at least an hour long. Once a month, work in an afternoon. Your stress level will drop and you may find you can get through a day without tears for the first time in a long time.
Do you take time for yourself?
photo credit: Chuck
