Hitting the Pause Button

Life is crazy.  My lists of things I need to do are a mile long.  My lists of things I want to do are just as long.  I feel pulled every which way at all hours of the day.  I feel like I am in a constant battle to ward off overwhelm.  I keep putting one foot in front of the other in the hopes that one day I will conquer more things on my lists than I add during the same period of time.


On Saturday between open training and the meeting, I sat in the change room and made a list of the things that I really would love to see accomplished over the next week.  There are things on there that must get done.  There are things on there that I would like to get done.  There are things on there that quite honestly I have put off for far too long.  Is this list doable?  Not really but now I have something to at least work towards.  Many of the things I have been putting off are part of my goals for this year that I have made either little or no progress on.  If the list gets me to even start moving in the right direction, it will have been a success.  Then armed with this list, I made a decision.


Sunday morning rolled around and my sweet kids asked what the plan was for the day.  My answer was go to church.  Nothing shocking there.  That's what we do on Sunday morning.  They then asked what the plan was for after church.  I then informed them that my plan was to eat steak for supper.  A little confused, then they asked what my plan was for between church and supper.  I let them know that I did not have one.  They were very shocked.  Mom always has a plan or a gazillion things that need to be done.  My decision was to take the day off to regroup and relax.


Yesterday after lunch we watched a movie as a family.  I had a wonderful nap curled up on the couch with my little furbaby.  I read for awhile.  We did indeed have steak for supper.  After the kids were in bed, we even snuck in a quick date and slipped into town for an ice cream cone at Jack's.  (Just for the record, both of my kids are dairy intolerant so eating ice cream in front of them would be meaner than sneaking off without them.)  It was an awesome day!  I can't remember the last time I chose to take an entire day just to restore.  Most times when I pause it is not a choice but my body or mind giving out on me.  Making the active choice and then following through felt so fantastic - I really can't even begin to describe how I felt at the end of the day.


Now for the hard part.  One of the reasons I tend to not take rest days is because I can find it hard to jump back in again.  I lose my momentum.  That's where that awesome list is going to come in handy.  I am going to have it out on my desk or kitchen counter for the rest of the week to keep me on track.  This was a pause, not a stop!