Time for rest and recovery

What a week!

Tuesday, I recounted a story from “a couple of days ago.”  My colleague chuckled when I said “Wait, what is today?”  I realized it was Tuesday and the thing I spoke about happened Monday, the day prior.  The last two weeks were demanding.  I stayed home in my pajamas most of last weekend in order to recover from that long week.  Recovery was critical in order for me to make it through this week.  During weeks like the last few, I appreciated the support of staff and community partners.  I also rested in the encouraging words of my friends and I seized opportunities to go to sleep early every night.  Thanks to the DVR I didn’t worry about missing either of my favorite shows.  I have  no idea, however, when or if I will watch last week’s shows before next week.

This morning I thought about what behaviors were worth repeating and which were better left behind.  I need to:

  • Avoid staying up later than necessary at night doing mindless activities like watching television.
  • Read something that enhances me personally or professionally every day.
  • Make time to talk to friends and family at least a few times a week.
  • Continue listening to my syndicated radio show every morning because the radio crew always says something to make me laugh.
  • Make time to stretch every day.
  • Take my supervisor’s advice and leave work on time more than once a week.
  • Remember that saying “No” or “Not at this time” works for me too.
  • Spend time sitting on the floor entertaining Swaggy every day because he takes my mind off of things that aren’t as cute.
  • Continue to write and edit my writing.
  • Continue to set new goals with realistic objectives and outcomes.
  • Judge myself fairly while not owning all of the judgements of others.
  • Keep relying on trusted family, friends, and partners to offer objective thoughts on my personal and professional development.

I decided to do less of everything this weekend, including writing.  I decided that I would introduce more folks to the Sister In The Shadow today and let that be the focus of my outreach this weekend.  With excitement, I encouraged, empowered, and enlightened young leaders and the membership of influential student groups on a college campus.  I skipped the grocery store run and I figured out how to prepare my dinner with the food I had in the house.  Doing less than I planned to do today turned out to be just fine.  I think that is the biggest lesson for me this week: I can’t do it all or be caught up on all of the things on my do list no matter how hard I work to accomplish that goal.

I hope that my struggles to breath and work less will encourage other folks to slow down a bit too.