I realized while grouping my next items on my “30 things
I’ve already done, accomplished, or otherwised experienced” list that I could
probably group the remaining items by different themes. For those of you just joining me (or have
forgotten) this list is a reminder of things I’ve already accomplished that I
am proud to have done. This is a list I
can revisit when I have the blahs, or am feeling unaccomplished, or prone to
comparing myself with others accomplishments. The first 5 items on my list are
here. If I had to retroactively assign a
theme to the first 5 items, I suppose it would Experiential Learning.
 |
| I'm such an adult, that when David and I stayed at a B&B for our anniversary, the first thing I wanted him to do was take photos of me sitting on all the couches. Like a Boss. |
6. Learned to
schedule “me” time.
This started when I was first dating
David. I was working full time, going to school part-time, co-leading a student ministry,
and also working as a research assistant for a professor which meant very, very little time off. Add
in a new relationship, with someone who lived a half hour (or more, yay Boston
area traffic!) away, and I could have easily gone into full on breakdown mode
weekly. However, given my work schedule (4 days/week) I began to schedule
myself “Michelle Days”. These would be on my first day off and would last until
around 5pm. I would often take myself out for lunch and eat some fancy grilled
cheese sandwich at the coffee shop around the corner and read trashy magazines.
I wouldn’t answer my phone, I wouldn’t do homework or housework (hahaha like I
did housework anyways? No), and I would love it. One day, just for me, where I
didn’t have to think or fulfill obligations. Once evening time came around I’d
often head into the city to hang out with David, or do laundry, or study. But
setting aside a big chunk of time for that year I lived alone really taught me
the value of me-time. I don’t set aside a full day anymore, but I still make a
point to schedule that time in, whether it’s in the form of going to a yoga
class on the weekends or having 20 mintues to myself after work. Scheduling it
into my days as an actual commitment made it so much easier to say “no” to
things that would pop up in that time. Saying “yes” to those things, even
things I wanted to do, meant saying “no” to myself and to the time I knew I
needed to decompress from my week.
