MakingTime

There are so many things we make time for. We make time to go to work, we make time to work that extra hour …or two, we make time to do the laundry, we make time to do the dishes, we make time to take our kids to soccer practice, we make time to pay the bills…you get where I’m going here right? We make time for just about everything, but ourselves. Yet all the things we do make time for are a priority. Shouldn’t we be a priority too?

Sometimes we need to check out, and in my experience, taking time to do things for yourself can sometimes feel…WRONG. Wait, that doesn’t make any sense. Why should we as women feel guilty for taking care of ourselves, whether it’s your monthly pedicure, highlights, massages…and even exercise? You shouldn’t. I’m not a mother…yet. I can’t wait to be quite frankly! So until I reach that stage in my life, and hopefully soon, I can only share my thoughts on what it’s like to be a woman who works but is often times, especially now that I’m a partner to someone else, feel a strange sense of guilt slowly…very slowly creeping up on me for taking time for myself.

Three months into marriage, and I have felt that feeling. I could be doing for him, instead of doing for myself…and while that can be VERY healthy, and is a GREAT thing for marriage (being selfless is critical), forgetting about all the little things I would do before I entered that stage could spell trouble down the road. Hmmmm, if I’m already cutting out time for myself (which has happened minimally)…what will happen when I become a Mother? Will I all of a sudden feel guilty for exercising? For getting a manicure? I hope not.

Luckily, I married a wonderful man who can sense when I’m tapped out. I have a demanding job and it comes with a lot of pressure often times. Add that pressure to the other pressures of life and you get a woman who sometimes feels like she’s going mad. Not only am I managing myself, now I am managing a home, a husband ..a new life. I often ask myself, how do mothers swing this? I guess I will be blessed enough to find out someday! But for now, I have been thinking about how important it has been to keep MAKING TIME for ME.

I was reminded over the weekend after a getaway to Scottsdale, Arizona with my hubby. He was golfing, but managed to surprise me with a day to the spa. Squeal! Pinch me! I get a spa day!!! A body scrub, massage and facial. He’s always encouraging me to do things for myself, pamper myself …and because I forgot to, he did it for me. It’s always more special that way sometimes, but it was a great reminder of why it’s important for me to be checked out from time to time. I spent three hours at the spa. First in the steam room, then with a scrub, a hot shower …a massage, 20 minutes in between for champagne and then a facial. As I sat comfortably in a retro cushioned chair sipping on champagne (sounds fancy huh?) in the spa lounge with SELF magazine in tow, I was reading the Editor in Chief’s note when something she wrote hit me. It said in short to “pursue your passions!”

I dazed off, smiling to myself. Yes, pursue my passions. Part of what THIS is…my blog, and everything that comes with my website and will in the future is a pursuit of my passions. Writing being one of them. For the first time in a long time, I felt a wave of calmness fill my body. Ideas rushed to my head, my mind clear for once …decluttered of drama (whether it’s pettiness at work, or the dumb dishes in the sink) …I had a sense of clarity. So this is what happens when I take TIME for MYSELF? That time was invaluable and a reminder of why it’s so important to take care of your own needs because a happier you makes all the other joys in your life happier too.

I know I have talked about taking the time to exercise for health reasons in some of my previous blogs, but this is another layer of “me time”. It doesn’t have to be a spa day, because let’s face it how often do those come around? It can be anything from yoga class, to a hike, and a seat with yourself at a coffee shop. It’s time spent away from everything but yourself. Just like you make time for your husband, to nurture that love …or time for your family, to strengthen the bond, take time for you too.