Taking time for yourself.

//Photo: Gabby Hulst//

Hello friends! I hope you are having a wonderful Wednesday! This is to all you hard working, butt kicking, tired, tired peeps: take a day off. I am learning more and more the importance of rest and time to relax. Whether you are trying to keep your head above water in college, trying to get your kid’s teeth brushed everyday, or running a business, life gets tiring. Sometimes the tiring is good, like getting a killer grade on a test you studied hours for, hearing your kids giggle and belly laugh, or feeling the satisfaction of loving your job. Regardless of whether it is good things or bad, it is still easy to get worn out.  Stop brushing it off as a weakness or something you can power through. Start taking it as a sign its time to slow down, even if only for a second. Use those few seconds to crack open your favorite book, sit down at your piano, or create something new. Get your hands dirty, squeeze tightly the ones you love and don’t let them go, go for a drive with your windows down and music loud. Write a letter to someone you miss, clean up your living space, take your dog a walk. Put away technology, forget about Netflix for a second, and just take a deep breath. We can’t keep moving forever. Look at your schedule for the next week and mark one day to take the afternoon off. Off of whatever it is. Find a pool, a park, a beach, or a comfy couch and just be.

When I started working on building a business, photography was just a hobby. Quickly the lines became blurred between business and hobby, work and play. I felt like I could run forever and never stop moving, I was and still am driven by a love for what I do. I get the blessing of capturing beautiful moments. I get to enjoy these things that the Lord creates, and then capture them to look back on later. Why would I ever want to take a break?? In January I felt a little disheveled. Unsure of why, I kept powering through. (let me take a moment to also note that a lot of January blues comes from A LACK OF SUN THANK YOU VERY MUCH MICHIGAN). I read an interview of Ashley, from Ashley Brooke Designs and it all clicked for me. ABD is a business I greatly admire and have looked up to for years on years on years. She was talking about how she tries to stick to a consistent work schedule because as she says “I’m better at my job when I have boundaries”. What a wonderful way to put it, and combined with reading Make It Happen which talks a lot about this topic, I was ready to start making a change. I put this quote on a sticky note on my laptop and planner as a reminder. It is hard to slow down once you’ve picked up pace. Once I stopped sitting at my computer till 11:30pm every night, and checking my email every 5 seconds, I started to actually feel rested. I would sit down at my computer in the morning revived and ready to tackle my to-do list. I found I was substantially more productive on these days then the days I was up late working the night before. Obviously a lot of my job is focused on weekends (ever heard of a wedding on a Tuesday? Not so much.) So protecting my Sunday’s and at least one other day in the week has become crucial. On these days I have learned its best to put away technology all together and give my eyes (and brain) a break! It is hard habit to form but people, its totally worth it. 

So it may not be business for you, but whatever it is don’t be afraid of rest. Don’t be afraid of taking time for yourself. I promise you, it will thank you for taking time to rejuvenate. I am so not good at this, and will always be learning how to better set boundaries and better rest myself, but I thought I would share what I have been learning lately.

I’ve had this post ready to publish for about 3 months now and the timing just never felt right. Somewhere in between writing it and now I forgot this lesson, and became worn out once again. This weekend I decided to finally take time off. No emails, no Instagram, just a good book, family, and friends. Its so funny how the timing of the Lord plays out because THIS was the sermon at church on Sunday. Hint taken! It is a great sermon and I would highly recommend watching it.  After a weekend off, I can say once again how sweet rest is!

So now tell me, what is your favorite way to spend a few minutes or a day off?