Are You Making Time for Yourself?

When a long weekend comes around, like the Labor Day Weekend we just enjoyed, what do you typically do with the extra time off from work?  Do you spend it catching up on sleep, or housework, or running errands?  Or do you take the opportunity to do something just for yourself?

If you're like me, the first thought that runs through your mind on any weekend, but especially a long weeend, is "I get to sleep in!"  What usually happens, of course, is that I wake up at my regular time and can't go back to sleep.

Over the Labor Day weekend, my office was closed from Friday-Monday, which made it feel like a mini vacation.  Four whole days of freedom!  Four days, surely, would be more than enough time to get everyting in that I wanted to do.

I had the days all organized.  Friday morning I was going to get up, clean the house and then try out my new toy - the carpet shampooer. Later I planned to watch a movie or two on pay-per-view.  Saturday was going to be the day to pay bills and run all those pesky errands and maybe have a nice lunch out - Mexican food was calling my name.  I scheduled Sunday to make some potato salad to go along with the steaks I planned to grill, and to spend some time working on Living a Woo Hoo Life!  That would leave me Monday free and clear to do whatever I wanted, and what I wanted in the worst way, was to paint.

Well, hubby had other plans on Friday so we spent the day out running around the mall and every other store on the planet.  The day wasn't a total bust; I did get my Mexican food.  Woo Hoo!  I spent Saturday cleaning the house (only half of the carpet got cleaned, however) paying bills and watching college football.  Sunday I finished up the carpet project and then ran out to the grocery store, again, and was able to get the eggs boiled and the potatoes cooked for the salad.

This left me with one day, Monday.  The one day out of the long wekend set aside for me and me alone - to paint to my heart's content.  Instead, I finished up the potato salad, grilled the steaks, and folded laundry. 

While I didn't pick up a paint brush all weekend, I did spend an enjoyable few hours working on Living a Woo Hoo Life! - a great sustitute for a paint brush.

As women, this is a pretty typical weekend.  We spend so much of our time and energies taking care of everyone and everything, that there is little time left over for us.  If you're not sure if you're making enough time for yourself to relax, regroup and renew, then check out this quiz at iVillage

Bottom line - making time for yourself, doing the things that feed your soul, whatever they may be, are essential for good health, spiritual peace and happiness. 

Chinese Proverb:  Tension is who you think you should be.  Relaxation is who you are.

ree'J