It's A Lot Like Drunk Dialing.......

I think we all might be familiar with the phrase and maybe even one or two of us might have had opportunity to apply the action in the past. Well, the same rules that apply with the phone should and ought to apply to blogging!! Nuff said about that.

Yesterday, Saturday, after I finished up my shift with the coffee mega giant I went outside to the patio, opened my backpack and got out my journal and about a months supply of the articles that I print from the web site Living Life Fully. I also receive a daily meditative article from them that usually has good writing prompts for journal topics. Well, I have been printing them, but have not taken any time to read them or do any writing and I think that it has been one of the huge factors in my sense of being overwhelmed.

In one of the articles, "Do You Need More Time" by Helaine Iris, how weird is that that I picked out that particular article? Or was it karma? Anyway, she had a quote that she had come across in an issue of Oprah's magazine from the Big O herself that stated," If you allow yourself to be depleted to the point where your emotional and spiritual tank is empty and running on fumes of habit, everybody loses. Especially you."

WOW!! That hit me square in the middle of the forehead!! I sat there stunned. That is exactly what I was doing. As the days went along I always had the intention of taking time out for me, because I always carry the reading and writing materials with me, but I kept allowing myself to be distracted and taken off task and so it got pushed aside. then I finally felt the devastating effects.

The article went on to say, " Our culture teaches otherwise, but the paradox is that you owe it to yourself and those who rely upon you to become more selfish. Yes. Selfish. You can put yourself at the top of your list without being mean or taking away from those who are most important to you."

Again, I say...WOW! What a concept. It is so true. After I made it a priority to sit down and do what I enjoyed and what I felt filled my tank back up AND rejuvenated my soul, I felt SO much better yesterday. Even after working 6 days and some of them were very busy and not much fun, I felt refreshed and came home and we spent time together and even went out to a nice dinner and had great family time together. Instead of feeling so tired and spent and just going to bed and talking to no one. It was very nice.

Another quote from yesterdays readings really summed it up for me. In an article titled, "How Do We Deal With Setbacks?" By Gary Egeberg excerpted from a book titled, "The Pocket Guide to Inner Peace" he says, " The process of resolving an inner or interpersonal conflict or handling an emotion we have struggled with for many years or decades, such as anger or fear, in a healthy manner is one that frequently entails making progress and suffering setbacks. A setback, though often painful, is not without potential redeeming value, for it frequently paves the way for a comeback and gives us the momentum to grow more than we would have had we not suffered the setback." This was exactly what was happening to me. I could feel myself growing right there in that patio chair, sitting in the sun outside on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at the coffee mega giant. It was exactly what I needed and now I know not put it off anymore for whatever reasons or other crap might come along.

We make time for household chores, we make time for friends which is often a very worthwhile activity, we make time for family and usually by the time we are done making time for everyone one and everything else we do not think it important enough to make time just for ourselves. Well, not anymore. I might work 6 days a week and a few loads may have to go unwashed and a few globs of dog hair may have to continue floating around on the floors, but I AM going to take that certain hour, or two, and make them my own. That time where I can read and write and flesh out my thoughts and emotions for the week.

I am going to take the time and fill up my tank. How could I not? The cost of letting it go is just to high of a price to pay for just an hour of time to be alone with my thoughts. We are all very busy people, getting pulled in many different directions and by many activities and necessities, but I encourage you to to take the time necessary to do whatever you personally find fulfilling in your lives that make you a better person and also make you a more fit person in your world.