Ralentir

"A leisurely walk is a gift"

That's a quote from the movie Saving Mr. Banks. Mrs. Travers' driver says it.
Their conversation starts with Mrs. Travers commenting that no one walks there. The driver says something about how everyone is too busy and makes the point that leisurely walks are a gift.

Leisure means free time, spare time or time off.

Do you have leisurely time? Are you so busy running around that you don't ever stop?

I often think about the song Running Just to Catch Myself by Mark Schultz. It's a pretty funny song and I enjoy listening to it. But there's a point to it too. One line in it is "I wave at my life as it passes me by".

Are you just waving at life as it's passing by or are you enjoying it and all the little moments?

I'm writing this today to not only challenge you but also myself!!
I've been pondering this idea since I watched Saving Mr. Banks two weeks ago but this week, especially, it's ringing true.. and it's only Tuesday!
This week is overwhelming to me. There's so much going on, my to-do list touches the floor it seems, and I'm not feeling great. There's certain things I need to keep track of, count and figure out. Even if I could get my body to sit still, my mind would be running like crazy.

Stress is not good.
I AM stressed... very stressed. For me, stress makes my health worse which makes it hard to get stuff done which makes me stress more which makes me feel worse which.... It's a very vicious cycle.
Another problem is that we miss out on life. We miss out on the relationship we have in our lives whether it be spouses, children or friends.

My friend wrote down the word "ralentir". She said that it was French for 'slow down'.
She wrote it to remind herself to slow down a bit. They're preparing to move so she's been busy gathering things around the house to sell and pack and basically get ready. But she wanted to remember that if her kids want to show her a picture they drew, she needed to take time to stop, look at it and talk to them about it. Not just say a quick "good job" and move on.

This is important! And I love that she does that!

Do I do it?

I don't want life to just pass me by. I don't want to be at the end of this week wondering what happened to it. I want to have some kind of moment (or many!) to remember.. either with my day care kids or my husband or BOTH!

My husband is a volunteer fireman. There has been 6 fires in the last three days and he's gone to 5! It interrupts conversations and sleep. But it's that time of year and that's our lives. Even still, we try to make the most of the time we are around each other.

Life gets busy. Believe me, I KNOW! But we still need to make sure we're not just running through it.

Let me tell you some things that I've learned to do.
First off, if I'm getting overwhelmed, I tend to get negative and magnify every little thing. I try to make a point to find some positives. Just finding at least two positives helps correct my attitude and get it back into perspective.

Another thing I do if I'm stressed and feel like just screaming or crying, I put on a fun song and dance! Yes, really, I do. My favorite is Footloose. I have the VeggieTales version actually. lol. It's off of their 80s tunes CD.
Anyway, Bob says something in the beginning about getting tired of working all the time. Then they sing the song and at the end Bob say "okay, back to work".

If I'm having a major stressed out day, I put in that CD. My day care kids love it and it helps me too. When that song comes on, they know I'm going to crank it up and we'll dance all togeher. We even have a little routine we do. HA!HA!
Oh, I know I probably look ridiculous and if a parent would walk in, I'd be embarrassed. But it's fun and such a great stress reliever. At the end when Bob says, 'back to work' I'm able to get back to my paperwork with a relaxed feel.
Music is a big part of my life. No matter what I'm doing, music is typically playing. If I'm cleaning around the house, I have it going and I'm dancing to it. (if they ever make a movie about me, it'd have to be a musical. lol)
So whether I'm with daycare kids or just on my own, I'm dancing my cares away. It relaxes me!

You need to find something you love to do.. it could be dancing, writing, reading, singing, hunting, etc.  Just find something that will relax you. Living in a stressed out state isn't healthy and it's definitely not fun!

If my health is such that I can't dance, I color. I will never forget the time when I lived in a house with several other girls. I was the first one home from work and it had been a bad day. I came home, stuck in the movie Aladdin and colored in my Winnie-the-Pooh coloring book. Some of my roommates thought I was a little crazy. But I was relaxed and was able to enjoy the evening with them. :)

I also write a lot of lists. Once I write it down, I allow myself to get it off my mind. I can then go to my list and figure out what NEEDS to be done and what I'd LIKE to get done. I can also fit in smaller jobs if I just have a few moments.

A lot of it is learning time management, too. We have certain responsibilities and yes, we need to make sure those get done. I learned in college that I had to make the most of good days because I never knew when a bad day would hit and I still needed to have my homework done on time. The same is true now. I try to take advantage of good days so that if I'm having a bad day and my body needs to just chill. I can do that without becoming really stressed.
It doesn't always work out but those are the times I need to really remember to pay attention to the relationships around me. I don't want to be so caught up that I brush off moments I could have.

Just this past Saturday I had a lot I was trying to get done. Some things came up that threw off our schedule. But when my husband asked if we should go on a walk around the lake with the dogs and the boys, I knew that I needed to do that. I needed to take time to enjoy those relationships.. not to mention the nice weather. Remember that one fire my husband didn't go to? It happened while we were on our walk so he stayed with us.

Priorities. What's most important to you? Am I putting "things" above people?

If I don't get something done, is it really the end of the world? What's the consequences?
If this is my last day or moment with this person, would I have regrets or moments I missed?

That's where time management comes in. We can't keep putting off responsibilities to go on a walk all day but we also can't work all day putting off leisure.
We need breaks.
Go on a walk. Dance to a song. Color a picture.
Take time to smell the roses, they used to say.

Plan ahead so that you can take advantage of breaks... whether they're planned or unexpected. Don't let the unexpected ruin it!
Like my friend, take a moment to slow down and enjoy that little unexpected moment with your child.

Are you Running Just to Catch Yourself? Are you waving as life passes you by? Are you so busy it's hard to handle?

Whether or not you need it because of the people around you or just to de-stress yourself so life is a little more enjoyable....

Stop.
Take a deep breath.
Go on a leisurely walk.
Dance to some music.
And remember to slow down!