Do you ever feel guilty for taking a break?
Not a holiday. Just a little break in your busy day.
I used to feel guilty for sitting down to enjoy a nice quiet lunch while the kids are napping.. because I felt like I should have been doing the housework while they were asleep.
I used to feel guilty for spending too long painting with my toddler.. when there was a ton of washing waiting for me.
I used to feel guilty for treating myself to coffee & morning tea after I dropped the kids off at school.. when I should have been rushing home to start prepping that night's dinner.
It's not just me. From what I've seen with my readers, this sort of guilt shows up because we've got so much on our plate and we feel like we shouldn't stop until everything is done.
Well you know what? If you're feeling any guilt like this, you should go ahead and GIVE YOURSELF A BIG PAT ON THE BACK. Right now!
I want you to congratulate yourself for feeling this way because it means you are actually taking a break. Slowing down. Taking time for yourself. Even though you have a lot to do.
I believe that guilty feeling is just your mind's sneaky way of motivating you to get things done. To get up again and go back to work.
And it works - it's not a pleasant feeling and by default we want to get rid of it, so we keep going through our daily To Do's.
But you have to be careful not to let that guilt control your life and leave you exhausted. Your brain will try to tell you that you should have a break once you've finished everything you need to do.
You and I both know, those To Do's are never going to be completely done. Every day, it all starts again. So YOU need to tell yourself to take a break. To make time to relax a priority in your life, so that you can recharge and take care of yourself and then take care of your family too.
It's just like on a plane when they say parents should put on the oxygen mask first, then put one on your child - so YOU stay alive long enough to be able to help them too.
So for the rest of this week, if you don't do it already, I want you to schedule in some time for you to do whatever YOU want to do. Some time to RELAX.
Scheduling it in makes it part of your To Do list - so you don't have to feel guilty about it anymore.
Giving yourself permission to take time just for YOU.
x Marissa
