The level of planning, preparing and effort that went into getting this 20 minutes to sit and read a book, by myself (well nearly by myself as the children were playing in the sand in front of me!!) was CRAZY!!!
My husband snapped this shot of me as I fully immersed myself in this moment and wrapped myself in my own cocoon of repair and restore as I got lost in this wonderful book, which I would highly recommend, called Underwater by Claire Walsh!
Why do we struggle so much in expressing our need for our own time and finding the space to get it?
The answer is probably very simple …. GUILT and LACK OF TIME. Doesn’t so much of our lives and how we choose to live them come down to these two elements? There will always be something more important to do or places to go or errands to run than actually allowing ourselves to sit, in our own company and do whatever it is that soothes and ignites our soul …. RIGHT?
100% Wrong!!
It is CRITICAL that we all create, find and take time to connect to ourselves, to our souls, to our likes and loves every day! We NEED to find and nourish the parts of ourselves that we may feel disconnected from or that we may have lost somewhere along the road of childhood to adulthood or particularly as some of us may have become parents in our journey or are perhaps caring for elderly or sickly parents.
As a mum of three children myself, the struggle to gift myself a little bit of my own time is so real. It can be extremely overwhelming at times being blessed with the incredible opportunity to look after and guide these precious young people in their lives, especially without a parenting manual guide on how to do it!!!! The constant questioning and guilt that we can feel as parents and especially as mothers about putting ourselves before our little one’s can be very intense. But yet, if you listen to the safety instructions on board an aeroplane before take-off, it is recommended that parents, guardians or carers ‘fit their own oxygen masks first in the case of an emergency’ so that they are better able to help those that are in their care. Makes complete sense but so many of us would probably try to do the exact opposite in such an emergency and can’t seem to apply this rationale in our everyday living either. We tend to make sure that everyone else has enough air and oxygen and whatever else it is that they need before we do. Where do you think this will end up??
This is why it is imperative that we don’t get lost or defined in any of the roles that we play in our lives and that we do whatever we need to do to ensure that we lively truly, happily and wholly and that we show up and be present and understanding to the best of our own individual ability, while still feeling that we are a recognisable and loving part of ourselves!
My question to you???
What are you going to do today to help to ‘Soothe and Ignite your Soul’???
The truth is, everything will be okay as soon as you are okay with everything. And that's the only time everything will be okay.
beachblogbooksdebutauthorleonamcdonnellMeditationmindfulnessmindfulness in naturemindfulnessrootedecotherapymindfulparentingnatural beautynatureconnectionreadingself careself compassionself lovetherapy
