It’s taken me some time to sit down and write. I have been extremely busy….planning my wedding (yep…me and #NewOldBae heading to the altar)!!! Not to mention my mom is turning 70 this year and we’re planning a big celebration for her milestone as well.
When I say mentally exhausted, that’s an understatement. Planning two big events, trying to get in at least three workouts per week, trying to eat healthy and figure out meals, working a full-time job, trying to keep up with my girls and be there for everyone; including my fiancé, drink enough water, keep the house together, keep clean underwear (instead of buying new ones because you forgot to do laundry)…I really can go on and on. It’s been a busy first couple of months of the year. This first half of the year is already booked due to a now combined social calendar. Then I had the nerve to join a book club at work!! I’m tired just re-reading this for editing LOL!!
Although we’ve decided to “elope” by having a small ceremony right outside of Atlanta, we are having a reception to celebrate…THE SAME DAY (I just be asking for it, don't I?!)! The reception is always the part of the wedding that requires the most planning. Me and my punch list of to-do items have been a little crazy to deal with.
When we try to juggle everything, we can’t enjoy anything. - bemorewithless.com
With all of this going on, I got to thinking. Being busy can make you feel like you’re important and some may wear it as a badge of honor. This is something that I don’t particularly relish in; maybe when I was younger, because it made me feel needed and hid a lot of my insecurities, but as I get older, this is a definite NO. I hate that during the night when my brain is supposed to be regenerating, my eyes are wide open with a running to-do list going through my mind. Waking up tired is no fun. How can I be productive when I have no focus?! When I’m like this, I’m working, but getting absolutely nothing done and then something like having to unexpectedly replace a toilet just throws my whole being (and not to mention, my wallet) into overdrive!
Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going too fast – you also miss the sense of where you are going and why. – Eddie Cantor
When I’m unable to do all the things, I feel very guilty and when I don’t have the energy to catch up with friends on the phone, I feel like I’m not being a really good friend. When I don't cook dinner or do the laundry, I feel that I've let #NewOldBae down (now, before you say anything...he does help!). When I’m sitting down looking to relax, I always feel like there are things that I can or should be doing. Somedays it’s just a battle of me versus the self-guilt. So, I wanted to do a bit of research to see if this was indeed a “thing”…and low and behold, it is! It’s called productivity guilt, which is basically feeling guilty about not meeting my own damn expectations...and that sounds about right!! So, I've decided to take the bull by the horns in an effort to prioritize myself with still enough time to do the things that are required for everyday living and enjoy this new ride of married life without feeling guilty about anything.
Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. – Lao Tzu
I’m working on creating some good habits that can help me slow down and enjoy life…starting with not feeling bad for taking over a month to get this post out (the next post may be late too…just so you know LOL!!). The slow down does not happen on its own, so these are some of the things that I’m doing to assist myself in that.
Practicing “blackout” periods where I put my devices down and give them (and my poor eyes) some rest!! Being in the moment and enjoying what's right in front of my eyes instead of what's on the screen.
Stop multitasking – contrary to popular belief, it is not an art and not conducive to real productivity. Only focusing on the task at hand allows me to get it right the first time, so that I don’t have to go back and re-do, which can be a time waster.
Accepting that I’m not superhuman. I can’t be everywhere at once; I can’t do everything today and yes it’ll have to wait until tomorrow when I have more bandwidth. The world will not fall apart if I don’t change the linen or cook dinner LOL!
Speaking of dinner…As an adult, one of the hardest tasks we have is figuring out what the hell is for dinner. To help me with this, I’ve been using Hello Fresh. It’s been a welcomed change to only think about which meal we want to eat and know that I already have all of the ingredients for a healthy dinner. And healthy is what I really need, cause what good is working out when I’m not putting in the work in the kitchen?! I’m also working on not working out just to balance my bad eating habits. I have to combine them to get the best results and while I know this, I still love Starbucks and Chick-fil-A, both of which are in my company’s lobby (pray for strength!!).
Moving my workouts to the morning. I was trying to workout in the evenings when I would get home from work. That did not work since #NewOldBae works at night. We like to sit down and eat dinner together before he heads in. This means I would get off at 4:00 pm, get home, try to work out, cook dinner and sit down to eat all before 6:00 pm. With that schedule, I found myself not being consistent with my workouts. Now, #NewOldBae and I work out at 5:00 am after he gets home from work. This works for us, and we're more consistent with our weekly workout goals.
Adding vitamins and supplements. A lot of people think that vitamins and supplements are not all they’re cracked up to be. But, as I get older and trying to get off this high blood pressure and cholesterol medication, vitamins have been helping. It can’t be just any vitamins; it must be the right ones and the right combination in order to be beneficial. I’ve found HUM and I absolutely love them!! Herbs and spices have been healing people for centuries…I’m hoping to tap into holistic healing as I learn more about what my body needs. As I mentioned in my last post…health is wealth!
Y’all wish your girl luck as I continue on in this busy season. While I’m not complaining to be planning these two events, one of which will be life changing, balance is a must. To the mothers, fathers, and entrepreneurs with full time jobs out there doing it all…I bow down to you. I have a hard enough time just trying to manage myself.
Well, I think I’m done venting for this week! Thanks for listening…until next time!!
Side note: None of the product links I've used in this post are sponsored. It's just what I choose to use to help me on my journey.
Wine of the week information: Instagram: @sipsouth; Website: www.sipandsharewines.com
I love ev post you make baby.. it gets better as your journey continues