FINDING YOU FOR A MOMENT:

November 1st marks the beginning of the countdown season to the holidays! So much to do, so little time, right? Let’s think about that for a minute.

We all  have an internal reserve of emotional, physical, spiritual and mental energy which can deplete quickly in times of stress, worry, trauma, and/or illness. I didn’t even address the just ‘busyness’ of everyday life in balancing work, family and outside commitments. Everyone, but your personal self, usually gets addressed……you find a way to make it all work, and sometimes that is at the expense of any personal time for you. We all need that ‘you’ time and this is not being selfish; it is a necessity. We can only be at our best in any area of life when we are fulfilled emotionally, feeling healthy, renewed spiritually and mentally in sync with the other three areas.

Maybe as we begin a new month, it is time for each of us to find 15 minutes each day that belong to no one but ourselves. Start with just 15 minutes and expand it when and if you can. Maybe it means getting up a half hour earlier when the house hold has not yet awakened, or staying up a little later, or maybe even spending our lunch hour in solitude, or maybe using that 15 minute afternoon break for you. The important aspect is that you decide when it will be, commit to that time by putting it in writing in your daily schedule and decide how that time will most benefit you…..which does not include figuring out what’s for dinner, how far to stretch the budget, tomorrow’s deadline or making mental lists of who you need to call.

Some ideas for this ‘you’ rejuvenation might include journaling, prayer, meditation, quietly listening to relaxing music while you deep breathe to the beat, or simply just sitting, breathing and letting your heart be filled up. I have found that when I stay in the rhythm of doing this daily, over time my relaxation gets deeper and the rejuvenation lasts longer.

I recommit to starting this practice again today. When will you start?

”We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise we harden”  John Wolfgang von Goethe,  author, statesman, and poet 1749-1832.

PJP