It's no secret that as women, our lives are full of to do lists and checking it, ticking it off and adding to it. We chase the elusive balanced-life where family, work, love and "me" meet with happiness, health and fulfilment. We dream of escaping on a break, but it comes with an inner guilt or a feeling that we need to earn it. We seek acceptance, connection, and acknowledgment for a job well done. We seek to be of value.
I have learnt that we are of value, by the very nature of who we are, not by what we achieve or have. That uniqueness, that energy that we bring is the very something that someone else needs and is the core of what allows you peace and joy.
I read an interview recently in The Collective with Brigid Schulte, award winning Washington Post journalist and mother, that captured this thinking about the importance of taking time out so well. She said "our brains are wired for insights to hit when we're taking a walk or drinking hot chocolate in the window seat looking out at the snow" and so “I make more space for it in my life....I'm never going to get to the end of my to-do list. I will die and my to-do list will still be really long. I have a greater sense that this is what it means to be alive, to take that time and take it now"
Real peace is an inner escape, and real joy is found when your soul is fully nurtured.
This can be found just by checking back in with yourself; of being more mindful of what it is to BE, not DO.
I encourage you to take some time out this week, be that a 5 minute cup of tea out amongst the sights and sounds of nature, attending an inspirational yoga, meditation or dance class (or something equally rejuvenating) or writing in a journal about what makes you special. Then book some time in your diary every week just for this. Your body, mind and soul will reward you in multiples.
Until then…be Zen
Jennifer Laws
Comments