Don’t feel up to doing much?

We need to take care of ourselves physically and mentally. Sometimes that means we need to take a beat and JUST take care of ourselves and that’s okay. It’s the most important job that we have. What can you do when you really don’t want to do anything?

Whether you’re ill or feeling down, we all have days when we’re feeling “less than”. You’re not quite up to doing much or don’t really feel like getting involved in anything. If you want to do something, but not much, there are lots of choices!

I’m not sure about you, but on days that I don’t feel well enough to do a lot or when I’m feeling down, I get mad or I feel bad because I feel like I should still be doing something. None of us want to feel lazy but some days require more rest or down time than others. Sometimes I don’t even have enough energy to think about much. Rather than feel bad about it, I’ve made a list of low-key activities that I can do instead. Having a list means I don’t have to think about it. All I have to do is grab my list! These activities vary from zero energy to a little bit more energy or thought. Depending on how you’re feeling, there’s something to choose from that will keep you busy, make the time go by a little easier, and hopefully make you feel better! Add your own ideas to it and you’ll be all set.

I hope this helps to make your low-key days just a little bit easier!

Welcome to Fall!

fall

Get those fall decorations out! It’s that time of year again.

It’s time to slow down a little bit. I know there are still sports, school activities, and other commitments but, for some reason, the fact that it’s now fall just makes me take a deep breath and feel like I can slow down. Summer always makes me feel like I have to do as much as possible to take advantage of the season (can you tell I live in the Midwest?). Fall brings a sense of calmness with it.

Fall just makes me stop, take a deep breath, and embrace the end of summer. We have to enjoy this time before the onslaught of winter takes hold. These next couple of months are glorious! There are no expectations, just the simple enjoyment of weather, beautiful colors, fall sweaters and boots to wear, and fun activities like apple-picking. I can even turn my oven back on and start baking all things pumpkin!

Whatever you choose to do with these next couple of months, enjoy!

Happy First Day of Fall!

Speed Up or Slow Down?

end_of_summer

Okay, so don’t get mad at me, but I have to tell you something.

I saw a few red and yellow leaves on my bushes and trees. I know it’s not fall (even if the 10-day forecast is 10-15 degrees cooler than it’s been). It’s too early for that. I actually saw them last week and tried to just ignore it. I thought it must be a fluke. I’m still waiting for summer to kick in! Once again, it seems that I missed summer entirely while waiting for it to get here.

I realize that we’re not into fall yet, but I also remember that it starts to get chilly a couple of weeks after school starts. I remember back-to-school shopping while it’s so hot outside and trying to convince the kids that they actually do need pants and warmer clothes. Now it’s getting colder sooner, it seems, and this is likely to happen within the next month.

Labor Day is only a few weeks away and that pretty much ends all of our summer-type activities. With that in mind, I decided to look at all of the things that I wanted to do this summer and, boy, was I disappointed! I didn’t get to a pool, I didn’t go to a summer concert, and I didn’t even get to a farmer’s market. To tell you the truth, I’m not sure exactly what I DID do but here I am and I need to decide what to do about it.

My first inclination is to look at my calendar and fill it up with all the things I haven’t yet done. Then, though, I decided to look back over the last two months. On most days of my appointment book, I have something written in. They may not all be things I wanted to do and they may not even have been important things, but there is something written on most days. What this tells me is that, even though I didn’t get to do the things I planned on, I had obviously done some other stuff. After looking at it, I realized that I don’t want to add to my already busy days by fitting in extra things I felt like I missed. There’s a reason I missed them; I was already busy!

I’ve decided, instead, to look at my next 4-6 weeks/weekends and decide where I can fit the top 3 things I wanted to do. I don’t need to be an overachiever here. I’m kind of satisfied with the level of activity I had, just not what I missed out on. I’m finding it much easier to make compromises now and I’m not feeling nearly as guilty as I used to when I don’t get things done. I can’t do it all anymore. Even if I could, it’s just not worth it.

I find that almost everybody I know is overbooked, over busy, and over stressed. Why add on to any of that? Take a look now and decide what’s most important to you over the next month. Do those things and let the rest of it go. Then, when fall does roll around, you can sit back and be happy with what you did this summer.

Then we’ll start on fall…and wine tours and apple picking and harvest fests…