August hits the calendar and both students and teachers alike begin to sense the dread of summer coming to a close, yet soon enough it turns to excitement as a new school year comes up on the horizon.
Almost 8 years ago now I was about to begin my first year of teaching! I was super excited to be teaching Spanish to a bunch of middle schoolers. In most seasons of life, transition can be a bit overwhelming, but this one was quite joy-filled. It was right where I needed to be, and made my heart come alive! (#nerdville) đ My energy for it probably equated to that of an average seventh grader. Although I loved it, life got very busy, very quickly.
As if my days werenât busy enough, rookie teachers have the âprivilegeâ of attending a bunch of first-year teacher meetings. Â Despite having good intent, I couldnât not think of the stack of papers I could be grading, the plans that needed to be prepped and emails that awaited a response. There was one meeting however that made such an impact on me; the one where second-year teachers came to give advice to us âRookies.â It was there that the greatest advice was given to me.
The advice: You have to unplug at some point. There is always something you could be working on and need to do. And yes, sometimes thatâs just how it is and you have to push through the mountains of work in order for tomorrow to run smoothly, but BE SURE TAKE TIME TO DO SOMETHING FOR YOURSELF. No matter how much work there is to do, you make that activity a priority, even if itâs just for an hour here and there.
How those words set me free! I needed to release myself from the strive and the craziness. I quickly joined and prioritized a workout group that met 3 times a week for an hour. It was my sanity and saving grace. I looked forward to those days as they allowed me to invest in me and do something for myself. Long after that year ended I continued to apply that advice to my life.
Here I am now, currently a stay at home mama…  I was recently reminded of those words and realized that all my time was invested in being a wife and a mama and somewhere in there attempting to keep up with the dishes and chores. Genuinely though, Iâm loving this season just as I did my teaching days. Thereâs a lot in common with those early teaching days: the work never ends and when youâre caught up with one thing, thereâs another. Upon realization of that, I knew I needed to come back to those words⌠BE SURE TAKE TIME TO DO SOMETHING FOR YOURSELF. Â
Since then I committed back to my workouts and prioritizing them into my daily routine. Itâs just 30 minutes a day, but allows me to invest in myself and gives me a goal to work towards.
This isnât a plug for working out, but it is a plug for you to find something you enjoy doing and creating time in the midst of lifeâs busy-ness to prioritize and make time to do it. Â It may seem as though there is zero time left in our days to do this, but itâs not about needing more time, but about reordering our priorities. There will always be time in your day for what you prioritize and I guarantee you, taking a bit of time to invest in yourself will give you a breath of fresh air and allow you to put your best foot forward in the obligations life has for you.