Self-Care Comes Before My Blog Lately… and That’s Okay

At the start of the new year, I promised myself that I would allow more positive energy into my life and let all that negative junk out. I am pleased to announce that I have been doing very well in both departments. I also made a silent promise that I would take more time for self-care and for me, that meant getting more sleep. I was taking my (very limited) sleep for granted and my body wasn’t feeling well-rested. For the first time, I admitted that I had to take care of me before my blog!

I know many know that I am a teacher, hence the blog title MommyTeaches. Many know that it’s a mentally challenging career and I am on my feet all day. When I come home, however, my work isn’t done – I feel like I am a 24 hour teacher! Late at night when I could hear a pin drop in my house, I would succumb to my beautiful island of writing. Catching up on all my social media networks (yes, answering every tweet is important to me), meeting deadlines, and responding to emails took me close to three hours every night. My sleep was decreasing and my mind and body were lacking.

At that moment in January, I made the commitment to being in bed before 8:30 pm each night because my mind, body, children, and career deserved it. Have I seen a decrease in blogging opportunities? Yes I have, but I also feel so much better being able to sleep and wake up in the morning refreshed and ready to take on my day. I had to make that critical choice to not remain on social media until midnight EVERY night, to learn that it was okay if I didn’t respond to someone’s tweet right at that moment. I reminded myself that tomorrow was another day and that my mind needed to rest!

I also learned how to say, “No.” There were plenty of times that I stayed up late to support others in their endeavors simply because I didn’t know how to say NO. Honestly, I thought that if I did, I would miss an opportunity. Lo’ and behold, one day it just clicked, It was as if I had an epiphany and I said, “if that opportunity is meant for me, it will be there. If not…it’s okay.” What’s more, it really has been okay since I made the choice to put myself first. Do I miss being online a lot and having more opportunities? I would be telling you one big fat lie if I said “NO” BUT…I am enjoying giving my body and mind the rest they deserve! I am NOT going to complete every task in one day and I can begin my hustle the next day…what I can’t get back is the time that I am taking away from caring for my body. As a matter of fact, I better end this post right now because it is way past my bedtime ….I don’t care if it’s a Saturday…by body needs the rest!