It’s Sunday morning just after the Canadian men’s hockey team won gold for the second time in a row! Yay!
I’ve had a busy weekend connecting with good friends which is great for stress relief, but i’ve had little time to get anything done around the house.
Now that I am home and Olympic fever is dying down, I am left to decide how to spend my last few hours of the weekend.
Of course I move right into “shoulding” all over myself. I should paint that wall. I should do laundry. I should prep food for the week. I should clean the bathroom, sweep the floors and dust. I should clean the car. I should go to the gym.
When I stop to reflect on this, it saddens me that my natural instinct is to spend my precious time and energy doing things I don’t necessarily want to do, simply because they “should” get done.
I ask myself, “What do I WANT to do?”. Well… I want to go for a walk along the canal. I want to call my mom and catch up. I want to read my book. I want to do yoga.
Taking the time to reflect on how I spend my time and energy has been one of the greatest gifts of having a regular meditation and mindfulness practice.
In the past I would have just dived in to all of my “shoulds”, accomplished my “to do” list and not have felt much joy about it.
Now, I will instead prioritize my “shoulds” and make sure I save some time and energy for my “wants”.
Yes, I need to prep healthy food for the week because that’s a very important part of my regular self-care program. No, I do not NEED to dust my house or clean my car today.
I can go for a walk and do yoga instead of being inside at the gym. I can read my book while I do my laundry. These are the activities that will keep my stress levels low and make me able to deal with any unexpected stressful events that come up.
Mindfully choosing how I spend my time and energy gives me a chance to make sure I do things that bring me joy and nourish for me.
Life is short and I don’t want to spend most of it on “shouldn’t” instead of “wants”.
Do you “should” all over yourself? How can you bring more “wants” into your life?Leave a comment below and let me know.
Cheers,
Charlene
oxox
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