recharge

Slay Say

Good morning SLAYER! Take time for yourself until you are you again.

New blog goes up Sunday, until then… SLAY on!

Take a pause and rise with a voice of a different tone.

Slay Say

Good morning SLAYER! When anxiety and stress have your brain stuck in a loop, reboot, it’s the I.T. of life!

New blog goes up Sunday, until then…SLAY on!

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Refresh, Relax, Recharge

We all lead busy lives, wear a lot of hats, and we put ourselves under enormous pressure each day to be all things to all people, but we often forget to be there for ourselves. To unwind. To practice self-care. To recharge.

My schedule has been really busy, and I thrive on busy, but I do need to take time for myself each day to give back to myself. Some days that is harder than others. But I look for ways, even if it’s small, to do something nice for myself, or do something that I will thank myself for later. But every so often I get caught up in the rat race and I feel rundown. That feeling hit me like a ton of bricks a few days ago. I just hit a wall. Now the old me would have pushed through, not been present, probably would have been resentful, but gotten it done. My ego would have said, “well done,” but my spirit would have been gasping for air…or a nap. I am thankful that many years of work and practicing self-care gave me enough awareness that I saw the warning signs, felt them, and canceled my afternoon to take of myself for the rest of the day. And that, felt amazing.

It is easy to forget to take care of ourselves, often we are at the bottom of our own list. We run around, busy, doing things for everyone else, and forget to check in to see what we need. Or, we may feel guilty for needing anything at all. We shouldn’t. We all need some rest from time to time. That doesn’t make us weak, that doesn’t make us a loser, or less-than, it makes us healthy, self-loving individuals who make sure we are balancing our lives with stuff we need to do, stuff we want to do for others, and, stuff that let’s us unwind, and gets our torch burning again. I’ve said this many times, here at STATE OF SLAY and on my livestream SLAY TALK LIVE, we can’t offer someone something we don’t have. If our tank is empty there is nothing we give to someone else. It is of great importance that we make sure we are getting that, and doing that for ourselves. It is not selfish, it is self-love.

I know from experience, for me, that when I rundown, I start to disconnect from myself, as a way to push through the exhaustion, or pain, or stress, but when I do that I am not listening to my own wants and needs, I am just propelling myself forward, and that is when I can get hurt. Emotionally, physically, spiritually. I know, from doing it many times in the past, that I am headed for trouble when I’m in that state, and, I have put myself in dangerous situations when I’m walking around without an awareness of my own needs.

It is OK to take time for ourselves. It is OK to nourish ourselves, to love ourselves enough that we do what’s best for us. Even if that comes before someone else’s needs. Sometimes we need to slow down, and sometimes that means we have to tell someone we can’t do something, or need to reschedule for another day, and all of that is OK, it’s more than OK, it’s great. Anyone who loves you will understand, and should understand, that you need to take care of you, but most importantly, you need to understand that it is OK to take care of you. It’s great to do things for others in your life, but not that the cost of your own self-care, make sure you are taking the time in your life to refresh, relax, recharge. SLAY on!

SLAY OF THE DAY: Do you over-schedule your life? When you’re planning your days or weeks, to you schedule time to rest, do something you like, or take a break? If not, why not? Do you see that if you are run down that you don’t have much to give someone else? What can you do to refresh, relax and recharge this week? Why don’t you write that into your schedule SLAYER, schedule some YOU time, and see if that makes a difference in how smoothly your days go.

S – self L – love A – appreciate Y – you

Today I’m Feeling Blue

I write this today not because I want people to ask me how I’m doing, or to tell me it’s going to be OK, I know that, and please, I’m fine, but I write this today because it’s important to acknowledge how we feel. I’ve written before how it’s OK not to be OK, and it is, but I think when things are not OK, or they don’t feel OK, or we’re just feeling down, we don’t always voice it, and it’s just as important to voice that truth as it is when we’re doing great.

When I first stepped on this path and I started attending regular support groups, it was great to hear people making progress and how their lives had improved, but it was just as important, and maybe even more so, to hear when people were going through a rough patch because if I wasn’t feeling great that day I knew I wasn’t the only one, and that because I wasn’t feeling great I wasn’t doing it wrong, it was just the ebb and flow of life. So, that is why I share this with you today.

What is going on? It’s been an emotional week in a lot of ways, some things have come up from my past, I’m working on getting something new started and am excited about that, and there some things that are out of control that I’m frustrated with, so good and bad, the ebb and flow, but I think it has just weighed down on me emotionally. I do a lot of things every day, I wear a lot of hats, and I do always take time for myself and recharge, but sometimes I just feel heavy. And I’m feeling heavy.

Now I know this will pass, I have some really fun things to look forward to this weekend, and I have a lot to be grateful for, and I am, and when I get to this place emotionally, I know that means it’s time to get to work, to look at what is weighing me down and come up with some solutions of how I can make those lighter, or what I am able to change. It’s rare now that I have these days, it feels so foreign to me now, I used to live my life in these days, one after the next, so to have one pop up only once in a while is the result of a lot of hard work, work that I know to do to move past this place I’m currently in.

It’s a good time to take stock, to look at my life, the people in it, the choices I’m making, and see if all of it is aligned with who I aim to be, who I’ve worked to be, who I aspire to be, to look at what can change, or maybe what needs to change. Me feeling heavy is a sign that some things are off, or I’m holding on to some things I need to let go. We can only ignore the things we should be addressing for so long before they all catch up to us, they don’t typically go away unless we send them away. So it’s a time for me to take some extra time for myself, to reflect, to get quiet, to recharge and to take action.

Again, I write this today because I made a commitment and a vow to myself to always be honest here at STATE OF SLAY, and today, this is my honest self, and I do that because I always encourage you to do the same and I always intend to stay accountable for my own actions, so if you are also feeling blue to today I send you my love, we are in a position to make some changes, and that, really, is a great place to be, and something we have control over. If you are feeling blue you are not “doing life wrong” you are feelings your emotions and you may have some things you need to address. We get to decide the narrative of our story, we get to decide if we’re going to have a good day or bad day, and even though I may have a heavy heart, I am still going to have a good day, because I am choosing to, and when I choose to and I choose to focus on the good I will find myself in the good, and that I know to be true, and you will too. SLAY on.

SLAY OF THE DAY: Do you acknowledge when you are feeling down? Do you tell people? Do you have a special someone you confide in? How do you feel after you share your truth? Do you sometimes find a solution by sharing your truth with someone else? Do feel lighter after sharing your truth? If you don’t share your truth, why not? What holds you back? What do you do to release it? Do you release it? What changes or actions can you take today to release some things you may be hanging on to? What do you need to let go? Let go of what you no longer need, or what weighs you down, let it go, and set yourself free. Smile SLAYER, it’s going to be OK.

S – self L – love A – appreciate Y – you