Whatever you want to call it, we all need a little bit of it. What is "it" you say? I call it "Me Time", or if I am telling you to take it, it would be called "You Time".
Today is good Friday, it's 6:55 in the morning. I slept until I felt done. No one is up around here except the cat, who is happy I just fed her, and now I am enjoying the quiet. I am having "Me Time" today. Time to do things I really want to do (even if some of them need to be done). I'll be going to a track in a couple of hours with my entire family to walk/jog for about an hour. I'll be watching my son and one of the catchers on his team practice pitching/catching (My son pitches, the other will catch).
I'll take some time to plant a few things in my front flower beds today. I'll have lunch AND dinner with my family. I'll help clean the house since we are entertaining a few families tomorrow night.
Oh, some of you are saying that sounds like a lot of work for a "Me Time" kinda day. But, the point is, the things I am doing, I really WANT to do, and actually enjoy doing (yes even cleaning, I know, I am a bit weird). Having "Me Time" doesn't mean doing nothing but sitting around vegging, though that can be part of a "Me Time" day. Hey, I might take a nap today. My pastor says sometimes the most spiritual thing one can do is take a nap, and I agree!
The real point is to do what Stephen Covey says when he talks about the 7th habit of highly effective people: Take time to sharpen the saw. Take time to rejuvenate yourself. If all we do is continue cutting down trees, without taking time to sharpen our saw, soon the work becomes harder and harder, and we have to take more and more effort to bring down a tree. Soon, even the smallest saplings that need to come down become a real chore. Our arms become fatigued, our backs, our legs, everything will begin to hurt, we might even injure ourselves because we become mentally fatigued as well and make a mistake with a dangerous tool like a saw.
That's how life is too. We must take time to rejuvenate, we must take "Me Time" regularly, not just when we feel the symptoms of fatigue and burnout, it has to be part of our regular lifestyle plan. If we don't, we'll fatigue, we'll feel like it's a chore to get through event he most mundane of activities. We might hurt ourselves, or others around us because we haven't taken time to rejuvenate, and we don't react to life the way we should.
What would your ideal "Me Day" look like? It doesn't have to look like mine. It has to be what rejuvenates YOU.
Take some time for you, this weekend and regularly.
Until next time...Be Well!
Dr. Bruce
