As it is February 29th today is a bonus day, a gift of time if you like and isn’t that what most of us really want these days? This work/life balance goal is not an easy nut to crack and our hurried lifestyle leaves us stressed, sapping the joy out of life as we plan our next move and fail to enjoy the here and now.
As February is traditionally the month of love with the romance of Valentine’s day and leap year marriage proposals, I wanted to write a little something on how we can use this extra day to give ourselves the care, compassion and consideration we so freely give to others, but so often fail to give ourselves.
So why not take today to take care of you? Here’s some thoughts:
1. Recommit
How many of the resolutions you promised yourself at New Year have you let slip already? If your daily meditation plans have failed to manifest, the weekly date night has disappeared, and your lunchtime walk has waned, now is the perfect time to recommit. Take today to plan how you can create the time to make your healthy habits happen.
2. Reconnect
Have you been putting off that day out with your bestie? Keep forgetting to call your mum back because you know you’ll be on the phone for at least an hour, or simply stopped talking to friends and family in favour of watching TV and playing with your phone? Take, some time to reconnect with yourself or the people you love. Make the call, go for the coffee, make dinner with someone and enjoy eating it over a conversation and as today is so sunny (here in Scotland at least) go outside and reconnect with nature.
3. Relax
Relaxation can take many forms, whether it’s a Reiki session, a run, a movie night or a long hot bath, you know what works for you, so give yourself permission to relax today. Look through old photo albums, put on your favourite song and dance, or do a guided meditation. If you are anything like me there’s a hair masque you’ve not managed to use yet as you have to leave it on for 20 minutes and who has time for that? Well today, we can all make time.
The truth is that we shouldn’t need an extra day to take time for ourselves, but it is far easier said than done, we may feel guilty, wasteful or stressed about not multitasking and using our time ‘wisely’. Yet deep down, we all know that if we relax more and take more time out, when we do tackle projects, we tackle them much more effectively because we are clear headed, have more energy and more focus.
I guess the message is to take some Space to Tame our habits, our thoughts and our behaviours so we can live our best lives. If you need help with it – you know where I am.
Sujarda x