Putting Myself First: Part 12.
The funny thing about putting myself first this year - I sometimes get overwhelmed with the number of things I want to do vs the number of things on my plate. The kids going back to school has been a big change - they are at an age where clubs are fun and exciting, which means lots of running around after school to fit them in.
I posted a few weeks ago about how to choose, how to prioritize - and it’s not always easy. In putting yourself first there has to be boundaries, but in order to set and maintain those boundaries, we need to make sure that we have time and space and feel grounded.
And the best way this works for me is to make sure I set that time strictly - time in silence, alone, focusing on my and nothing else.
It was during this time when I was thinking about the clubs my children are attending - in the summer we had a free dance class and my eldest lit up in a way I hadn’t seen before - seeing her so excited about something she found so fun was special. She wanted to do more classes, so we were going to make that happen.
Then I thought about us, her parents. And every parent - when was the last time we tried something new, got excited by it, and made sure we did it weekly?
With my kids it’s a no-brainer, if we can afford it and they LOVE it, we’ll make it happen. Because seeing them happy, giving them a passion for a hobby is so bloody beautiful.
But what about us? As parents do we do this for ourselves? Or do we arm ourselves with excuses and reasons to NOT do things that we are passionate about?
I’ll go one further - I bet that we rarely allow ourselves to feel passionate about something because we rarely try new things.
Which I guess is the point of Putting Me First more - to find those fun pockets of things for me - because being lit up in a exciting and fun way feels great for us. We have just forgotten about that time because we are so focused on other people’s joy and we’re so wrapped up in the outside world - we have neglected our inside world.
Until next time - L xx
