January was definitely a month of learning for me. Here is one of the things that I learned. And I so hope that I learned it once and for all. It gets really tiresome to have to learn the same things over and over again. It's interesting how it seems like sometimes I learn and relearn life lessons and then one day a light bulb seems to go on and I really truly GET IT! I don't know if it works this way for others but it seems to be a pattern for me.
I learned that I have to take care of myself before I can take care of everyone else. Oh, I've said it many times, I've told others that many times. I KNEW it in my head, but somehow it didn't translate into action. But about a week into January I cracked. I flew off the handle in a spectacular way simply because I was so tired and stressed out that I could not cope. And in the week or so that followed, as all of us tried to get our feet under us again I realized that no one else could do this for me. I HAD to take care of myself. I began going to bed earlier. I simplified our routines, meals, and the activities I did with the kids. I'm spending more time reading and writing because that is what refills my reservoir. I stopped (mostly) feeling guilty about what did not get accomplished and let it go. I made some decisions about the direction I want to take the home business that took a lot of stress off of me.
And amazingly enough, as I balanced out some of the other areas of my life, productivity has began to pick up. Relationships that were becoming shaky are beginning to become sure again. I am beginning to feel like the person I used to know and thought I had lost. I feel like I'm coming out of a long dark tunnel. I'm still learning to let myself relax. To not try to fit "productivity" into every single second of my day. I'm trying to allow myself to enjoy the moment. And although I don't always get it right, I'm getting a lot better at it. I don't ever want to reach that breaking point again.
What did you learn in January?
I am linking this post up at strocel.com where Amber Strocel shares things she learned each month and invites other to share as well.
What did you learn in January?
I am linking this post up at strocel.com where Amber Strocel shares things she learned each month and invites other to share as well.
There's a big difference between knowing something, and KNOWING something. And I think that the taking care of ourselves thing falls into that category. It's really easy to know you need to do it, and tell other people to do it, but living it is something else entirely.
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