The Art of Having Several Seats

As a society, we are more stressed than ever before. We are constantly on overdrive, overworked, overbooked and overloaded. It’s no surprise that 79% of Americans reported feeling stress sometimes or frequently during their day. The pace at which we live our lives leaves little room for rest, reflection, meditation and relaxation.

As a mom I totally identified with this post from fellow mom blogger, Cameron, where she describes herself as “the keeper.” It’s beautifully written, true and worth the read.

She writes that as a mom she is the keeper of schedules, solutions, preferences, reminders, rituals, memories, emotional security, peace, worry (her kids’ and her own), the good and the bad, the big and the small, the beautiful and the hard.

She goes on to say, “But sometimes the weight of the things I keep pulls me down below the surface…Because these things I keep are constantly flickering in the back of my brain, waiting to be forgotten. They scatter my thoughts and keep me awake long past my bedtime.”

If you are somebody’s mama I know you are waving your hands, with closed eyes in reverence to the accuracy of these words. The weight of the roles we carry, particularly motherhood, can be insufferable at times.

And now with holiday season in full swing, we pile even more onto our plates. Somehow finding time to shop for gifts, decorate the house, host and attend parties and think of good places to hide the elf on the shelf every night. The planning and execution of all these activities can leave us with “festive stress”. Last year, 31% of Americans describe the holiday season as “frantic.”

That’s why I’m writing this. As a reminder to take care of you. Practicing some self love and self care, especially during this season, is a great way to ensure you don’t get burned out. Because of the aforementioned busyness we often (ok, almost always) put ourselves on the back burner.

Constantly pouring ourselves into others can leave us with no room for replenishment. Taking the time for self-care, however fancy or indulgent it may sound, is critical for our own physical, emotional and mental well being.

You can’t pour from an empty cup. At some point you have to stop and refill yourself. That’s self care. Taking a moment for you. Maybe that means a long hot bath, reading a book, shopping, working out or drinking a glass of wine (or two). For me, it’s making sure I spend time practicing yoga and connecting with my fierce crew of girlfriends. I’m also diligent about carving out daily time, especially during stressful seasons, for prayer, bible reading and meditation.

Once you take the time to breathe, you’ll come back refreshed and ready to be the vessel God created you to be.There’s a reason why the airplane flight attendant tells you to put your oxygen mask on first. So have a seat. Unplug. Reset. Meditate. And come back to your beautiful chaotic life like the real-life superhero you are.

And speaking of being refreshed…Have you heard about the 2023 Daniel Fast? Click here to learn more.