As I sat down to get this blog post ready, I thought back on how I’ve handled holidays in the past. I mostly thought on how I used to handle the work holidays that most people took for themselves.
Let’s see if you can relate to any of these that I’ll honestly say were how I’d view holidays, weekends or time off in general:
- Holidays are the chance to catch up with work but from home
- Holidays are what “other” people get to enjoy – that’s not my life right now
- Holiday are just another day to feel behind with everything while everyone else posts their cool travel photos on Facebook
- Holidays have to be earned, so I need to get this huge list of things done PERFECTLY before I allow myself any sort of break
I can see and understand it more now but when I was living a more caged life, that was also the lens through which I was viewing things. And that also applied to time off from my job at the time, holidays, etc.
Here are some reminders I started to give myself to counter each of my “stuck” thoughts before regarding time off & holidays. Take a look at those against the excuses I used to make for not taking responsibility for my life & living authentically:
- The demands from work do not create their own boundaries, that’s my responsibility, my job –
Holidays are the chance to catch up with work but from home - I can choose to be bitter OR better with my own life –
Holidays are what “other” people get to enjoy – that’s not my life right now - Why not me?! I get to define what’s urgent & important in my life –
Holiday are just another day to feel behind with everything while everyone else posts their cool travel photos on Facebook - I’ll never get it all done, so I need to choose what my life looks like –
Holidays have to be earned, so I need to get this huge list of things done PERFECTLY before I allow myself any sort of break
I sincerely hope that many of you have been able to enjoy at least part of this Memorial Day Weekend by the time you read this! And if you’re feeling inspired, I’d love to read your comments below about how you took even some time off for yourself this holiday and how you enjoyed it.