Taking Care of You - Part Five

Welcome back to our “Taking Care of YOU” series. This is part 5. . If you missed Part 1, 2, 3 or 4  please click on these links—Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4—to read those posts before continuing here.

5.    Try to get up early every morning to have some quiet time before everyone wakes up. Read, pray, listen to the silence—whatever refreshes you.

I know it seems impossible to even consider finding time for yourself with soccer practice, ballet lessons, and support group events, not to mention the orthodontist and pediatrician! A friend once told me that her mother had taught her to write a check into her savings account every payday, even for a small amount, before paying any other bills. This way, she would get her priorities in order and build a good habit early in life. Well, this idea can also apply to our own personal daily and weekly schedules.

This time is so important, yet so easily sacrificed, when other "more important" things crop up. Just as you try not to interfere or make demands on a working spouse's daily work routine, protect this time for yourself as part of your "work" schedule. Block off your time on the calendar FIRST, and then add all of the other appointments and demands later. Preserve your appointments for yourself. Protect this time and use it for your own well-being.

When I was young, I remember my mother getting up before daylight, quietly going to the kitchen, and making coffee. She would sit at the kitchen table with her coffee, looking out the back window into the woods, enjoying the silence for a while before all of the children woke up and broke into her quiet time. I never understood just how important this time was until we had our own children, and now I appreciate her exasperated look when one of us would awaken early and wander out before daylight!

Stay tuned right here for the next “Taking Care of YOU” post in just a few days!

Blessings,

Amanda B.