Friday, August 27, 2010

Procrastination and Chocolate

Another glorious week of life has passed us by and I cannot help but ask myself what I have accomplished. Strangely it went past rather quickly. That is probably because it was such an enjoyable week. Not necessarily that anything special happened; in fact I spent it mostly alone. Yet the weather was quite perfect and I was able to get outdoors more than I have in some time. That always seems to lift my spirits. Even the Mercury Retrograde that everyone seems to be talking about, although I can feel it, is not affecting me in a terrible way.

It is not as if I have sat on my butt all week and absolutely done nothing. The normal chores and errands have been completed. I have my Celtic Tree Lore posts completed for the next two months. I did some deep fall cleaning. I worked outdoors of course and spent some extra time tending my flowers and gardens. I have started working on Christmas gifts. Yet still I ask myself what I have accomplished. For some time I have wanted to start seriously working on my writing yet it seems that I always find some excuse or reason not to give it the time that I really want to give it. There really is no excuse that is adequate enough although I can always find one that I deem suitable to stop me.

This morning I ran across a quote by Robert Kennedy which somewhat kicked me in the butt as if trying to tell me exactly what I need to hear. “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” It is not necessarily that I want a top ten bestseller book, although don’t get me wrong if the fate landed in my lap I would not turn my nose up at it. I just want to be able to say that I put my best foot forward and that I gave it my best attempt. Procrastination is my monster that lurks in the shadows and whispers those bad things to me that keeps me from doing the things I need to do… That and possibly a bit of senility as it seems I chase rabbits a bit more now than I ever used to. Yet even that I think could be called an excuse that I use for the dragging of my feet.

In the coming weeks and possibly longer I have promised myself to stop making excuses and to work on those things that I have kept back on the shelf telling myself that I will tend to them when I have adequate time. Really what is adequate time? Any woman knows that if we were to wait for the perfect moment to work on anything that we see as slightly selfish that it would never get done. Or at least not be given the same amount of time or importance that we give so many other things in our lives. It is not that the keeping of the household, the children, the husband, the job, and all the other things that we put before ourselves are not important. They all hold their special place in our hearts and for some no matter what we decide there are a few of those distractions that we will not budge.

Yet I do think it is important that a woman tends to herself; that she takes those special moments to treat herself and do things that she enjoys and loves. Some of us are able to do this a bit more than others. Our children have grown and are no longer at home. We have time in the day that is spent alone and we can steal those precious moments we so desire. Although I am very much in that situation; I still find myself putting myself at the bottom of the list. Which we all know means, that many times it is the one item that there just was not enough time for in the day. I will be honest and say that I do manage to have so much more “me” time than before and I do sympathize with mothers of young children at home. I know if I still here in that situation I would give my prime time to them. It is a woman’s nature to do such a thing.

In the long run though to give a little of the nurturing, that woman do so well, to oneself will benefit them greatly. It took me a while before I understood that statement. Yet when I realized that it was impossible to give anyone or anything my best if I was not giving my best to myself first, my life changed. As you can see I still regress back at times, yet like I have said before that is a woman’s way, we love to tend to others.

I guess what I am saying is I am going to have a little me time. I am going to give a bit more to the things that I enjoy and want to excel in and also jump off a few cliffs. I mean that figuratively of course. Take a few moments (or longer if you can ) this weekend and ponder on what it is you want out of yourself and then ask yourself what are you doing to achieve it. Eat a little chocolate while you think about it... Why? Because any woman knows that a little piece of chocolate can make any woman feel better. Blessings

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

yep, chocolate always makes a woman feel better.

I am struggling with finding that "me" time that I desperately need. Even when my girls are with their dad, I have a thousand things to do and can't seem to relax. I am hoping to find some sense of balance real soon.

Blessings,

Ana

brandi said...

~just as we spend so much time tending to our gardens and all the seeds we sown...you couldn't be more true about tending to our inner self...our desires...all month i have felt very much the same and keeping telling myself i will give me more time...this post is plum full of goodness to remind us all to take a wee bit more for ourselves...as hard as it can be...it is needed! cheers to time with ourselves...much l♥ve and light upon you always~

mxtodis123 said...

I'm taking some 'me' time and some 'sleep' time this weekend. Totally burned out.
Mary

Eliza said...

Lovely post and certainly something to ponder, I think I'm the worlds biggest procrastinator, not something to be proud of - now where did I put the chocolate.

Merry ME said...

I don't know enough about astrology to know what it means that Mercury is in retrograde. I know what self care is all about, but not able to put it into practice much.

What'm I'm getting from reading a variety of blogs is that when Mercury acts up and makes you feel crazy one should not howl at the moon but rather do something to pamper and care for herself.

The universe has been talking. I have not been listening. Perhaps it's time to change that.

Teresa said...

That is certainly a wonderful quote. Positive risk-taking is actually a skill that I teach my behavior disorders students. It is so much easier to sabotage ourselves or just not try than to think of failing. Enjoy your "me" time.

Heather said...

I whole heartedly agree about needing to tend to yourself and daring to put yourself out there to follow your dreams. It never comes easily and without work. But I'm of the mind that we only live once, so you might as well make your dreams come true now :)
Wasnt this oklahoma weather wonderful this week? I hope it stays....it felt like october some mornings! loved it...

Dede said...

Good for you taking "me" time! It is an absolute necessary for women, no matter what we think. And those little dark chocolate "Dove" pieces are the best. Wishing you a tranquil week!

(((HUGS)))