This post might pee you off!

11^th April 2014

I'm late, I'm late for A very important date. No time to say hello, good-bye, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late! The White Rabbit, Alice in Wonderland

168 hours in a week – what do you do with yours?

Every now and again I have a “Dah dah” moment when I realise what’s going on in my life that’s causing me to be out of balance, sometimes this happens when I point it out as a problem in someone else’s life, then I walk away and think, mmm you’re doing the same thing, no wonder you’re not feeling 100%!

This week that realisation comes in the form of STOPPING!   Normally I’d probably say ‘slowing down’ but at the moment I need to STOP and breathe. 

Are you that busy you pass yourself rushing about, trying to get everything done, to fit it all in?  Do you feel overwhelmed at the moment by life – that’s usually the trigger that makes me realise I need to slow down and get everything into perspective.

This weekend for me is all about the slowing down and stopping because I have spent the last three months rushing and thinking “right what next!”  So much to do, so little time, even with my lovely garden I found myself thinking a few weeks ago, as soon as it’s dry and a bit warmer I will do this out there and then I can do that and then when I have a bit more money I’ll add this – I don’t recall once thinking and then I’ll sit and stop and enjoy looking at it! 

So today when I’ve done what I need to get done work wise, I’m going to sit in my kitchen and relax whilst looking at my garden, if it’s warm enough I might even make it outside into the garden.

Are  you reading this thinking “I WISH I had time to STOP, or even to SLOW DOWN”, are you just so ridiculously busy you don’t know what to do next?   Hard isn’t it!  Do that then make a huge difference to the way you eat and the choices you make, are you grabbing something on the run, stuffing it down, are you denying yourself the pleasure of food because you just haven’t got time to sit and enjoy it or to think about what you’d actually like to really eat because you haven’t got time?

Do you then in the few spare hours you do have punish yourself with an exercise routine you don’t enjoy because that is your way of making up for the crime of overeating?

Then as soon as you do stop to breathe and realise that you’ve overeaten, and most of it junk food, do you then mistreat your body by inflicting on it attempts at ridiculous starvation diets and totally deny yourself that last bit of pleasure you were getting from food?

Vicious cycle isn’t it?

Whatever I say next, if you’re a crazy busy person, trying to earn a living to pay the bills, feed and clothe your kids you’re more than likely going to think, “What does she know about my life, about how hard this all is!” and the honest answer would be I know nothing about your life, nothing about your circumstances and nothing about how much free time you do have.

I can only talk about my experiences and the things I know for definite or the things I believe. 

Firstly, I know we’re all going to die at some point. 

Secondly, I believe we only get to do this once!

Thirdly, I doubt if when your life is coming to an end you’ll think I’m so glad I rushed round all my life and missed so much pleasure, I’m so glad I spent Saturday morning cleaning my house from top to bottom whilst my kids played alone in the garden. 

Like I say I don’t know your story, I only know mine and over the last few years it’s always been really important to me to have a balance in my life between work and pleasure, between rushing about and sitting still, after all we are human beings not human doings!

This week when we got back from the hospital, I had loads to do, work to get finished and sorted ready for the night meeting and before I can sign off at the end of the week and just lately that’s exactly what I would’ve done, rushed back up to my office and carried on where I left off, this week instead I put the kettle on and sat and chatted to mom about what had just happened and anything else she wanted to chat about.

So yes I’ve realised I need to slow down and that’s what I plan to do.  What about you?  Could you slow down or even stop for a bit, can you find yourself a little “me time”, or find a bit of “family time” or whatever it is you need?

If you spend a minute ramming your breakfast down your neck, could you slow that down to 5 minutes?  Instead of getting a takeaway for tea, could you find 20 minutes to cook something up that you will all enjoy, you probably wait that long in the chippy to get served anyways!

If you’re reading this and getting angry at my ignorance and lack of understanding your situation because you are “just too damn busy to be able to slow down”, then you particularly need to slow down or you’re going to explode!   I realised a long time ago when someone’s words annoy me in such a way it’s because I know there saying something that I don’t want to hear and that probably has some truth in it.

I can handle you being angry or annoyed at me as long as I make you think. xx

Slow down BeYOUtiful, life is passing you by and you’re missing all the good stuff.