As I wrote, we started back to school last week and overall it went really well. Boys are all back and settled in and I felt happy about how we had approached and recognised it.
And then Thursday night I felt really tired and Friday I had a migraine.
So does this mean it didn't go well? No - but it means that there are still things I need to learn and remember about how I connect with these peak times of change as they show up in our life.
This week I invite you to build awareness of & change your strategy as you approach peaks and troughs in energy & tasks.
It wasn't until I was unpacking what we had done that I realised how full our week done and how much energy I had put out into the world. Here are are a few of the things... We had one of the twins with croup the weekend before school started and had been up to 3am. We had what I thought was a quieter end to the holidays but still involved me getting everything ready for back to school and celebrating the end of the holidays. I decided it was a good idea to completely move round ALL the furniture in the boys room and a big chunk of furniture in the room where I do my art. And we started a new school term and had to get back into routine and the school run. And I had a great morning thinking how I could bring in my coaching more into my business but spent a lot of PC time...and brain time as I was working out how it all fitted together.
It was too much.
I find personally it can be that small amount of time that we push ourselves further that we need our eyes opening to. Is it just me that pushes on through thinking better done that left unfinished? Especially when it is a new and exciting project? I'm sure it isn't!
How could I handle things differently if I invite myself into awareness of it and act from self kindness and selfcare? if I still need to get all the things done over time?
Approaching activities through the lens of selfcare and kindness.
Awareness is the door through which I can step through to start being kinder to myself. Awareness helps me to start seeing the points where I could stop, breathe and make a different choice.
I can choose to do some of these things later.
I can choose to remember that I have had a busy time.
I can choose to recognise that too much PC time often gives me a headache, as does lack of sleep and worry over the boys.
Once I am aware and know I have choices, I can start to do things differently. I can make kinder choices to myself.
I can recognise that I have some times that need lots of things doing (peaks) and that it may be better or kinder to follow these times with a period of slowness, of quiet, of being at home to help counter the energy that I have expended in the busy time. The more I grow my awareness, the more I realise that for me, I need these down times to help me have the energy for all the exciting things I get to do.
And this is definitely not just for me, it's for the children and the whole family too. They need the quiet time as well as the busy fun times. We were out and about Saturday and consciously chose to stay at home and have a quiet home day Sunday. Even one of the boys was saying they wanted a quiet time. I think that's also a beautiful gift to allow to grow in your child, their own awareness of when they need quiet time (and when Mummy and Daddy need it too!).
Until next time,
Claire