TAKE TIME TO SMELL THE ROSES…
Today’s focus for me in my morning meditation was thinking about what is really important in people’s lives. Can you answer the following questions and be honest with yourself?
*Am I taking an active role in making my life as good as it can be?
*Am I playing the role of the victim and sitting on the sidelines?
*Am I giving too much to one area of my life while neglecting others?
*Am I resentful of not having any time to myself?
*Do I work too much, exercise too much, eat too much, watch too much tv?
*Do I spend too much time alone?
*Do I spend too much time away from my children?
I realize that it’s very important to look at our relationships to friends, family, co-workers and others to see if we are leading a balanced life. Look closely at your own routines to examine any negative patterns. Take time for yourself regularly because we all need to be replenished mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually after a long week of work, stress, kids, traffic, problems etc. Be sure to stop and smell the roses and make an effort to de-stress as often as possible. Put your phone on silent, or better yet, out of your sight for a specific amount of time to allow you to fully unwind and focus on your own needs without interruption.
Take a walk, a bike ride or engage in some other form of exercise mid-day whenever possible to give yourself a little pick-me-up. One of my favorite things to do after dropping my kids at school was to finish up any pressing work projects, tidy up my house and escape for a mid-day movie all by myself complete with popcorn. It was not only relaxing, it was stress-free and I felt like I was really pampering myself. Alot of people take issue with doing things alone, but I feel very comfortable spending time alone; for me, that’s the whole point of the excursion.
The bottom line is that we often live frazzled lives and rarely stop and take time to replenish our souls. Without this replenishment, we have little or nothing left to offer others so it is vital to take some time for ourselves and it is even more vital to “allow” ourselves those moments while releasing any guilt about them. Hopefully, you are already planning your next personal excursion in your mind and soon it will come to fruition. Indulge my friends, you certainly deserve it!
