Do you ever have weeks where you are so excited Friday comes that you could give it a giant hug. Your joy and exuberance that the weekend is here so you could regroup, refresh, and refocus is awaiting you.
As I am writing this on a Sunday morning, that is how my Friday felt. My work week had been intense, sad, draining. The significance of the issues that some people are facing is huge, painful, and so hard. I gave it my all and then some to provide care, comfort, resources, and hope. The Capital Hill riot saddened me to the core. I have seen first hard the darkness that exists in people, the lack of love and hope, that can propel them to do unimaginable violent actions to others. My heart hurts.
I also know I am not the only person feeling this way. That our lives, personal, professional, tragic events happening in the world are taking a toll. There are many people, who like me, are dragging and gleefully skidded into Friday.
When I awoke on Saturday my energy was lower than I had assessed. The things I had wanted to do, and some that I needed to do felt like too much. I mulled over my low energy, my dragging, and what to do. One of my favorite quotes, by Arthur Ashe, came to me
“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”
I know I did not want my dragging to get, well, more dragged. I wanted my energy reserves to go up, not down. I used that quote as my guideline, thinking about what helps my energy improve. So in starting where I was I knew getting outside for walks and fresh air always give me more pep in my step. So outdoor time happened. There were a few chores that when completely would feel like a mental boost because they were done so I forced (yes forced) myself to complete them. I did what I could. There were enough household staples and food to make some delicious eats so while other items would have been great, they were not needed. Saturday was rounded out with a nap, movie watching, hot chocolate drinking.
“Give yourself time. Nothing in nature grows all year round.” Unknown
I am not totally recharged as I write this. Did my actions yesterday help my energy go up some? Yes. Will one day of giving my body and mind some of time it is needing to recharge do so in one day? Nope. So I will do a repeat yesterday. I will also make some tweaks in my daily after work routines to be protective of my energy, my reserves, my self. Writing this blog is something I like to do so while I used energy to write it, I created more energy for myself than what I used to write this. It’s pretty cool how things that bring us joy can fill us up it really good ways.
You know yourself better than anyone else. If you are dragging, feeling depleted, running out of gas then stop. Assess what you can do to improve your energy, your reserves. Start with where you are. Use what resources you have in your life. Do what you can to take care of your valuable, incredible self. You matter. As a quote by an unknown person states “You can’t pour from an empty cup so take care of yourself first.” We can do hard things. We can bring our love, our light, our positivity to others around us. We also need to take great care of our awesome selves.
May your energy be with you💜
