My Journey of Discovery begins

The past few months I’ve been busy learning and growing using my S.L.O.W D.O.W.N approach. My failures have allowed me to learn even more about myself. My fears and worries have been holding me back to get started on this creative journey through my blog, I’ve been waiting for the right time, the perfect post for too long. It’s time to start, right now is the right time and the imperfections, the uncertainties, the failures will be my guide on this journey. This blog will be My Journey of Discovery but I also hope that my journey will inspire you to (re) discover yourself too. The question that will drive this journey is How can I be the best version of myself, for a more peaceful, successful, happier and healthier life?

One of the first steps in my slow down approach is to Spend quality time with myself. What I had in mind didn’t seem to be working. I thought if I schedule a date with myself, I could start to listen a bit more to my needs and getting more clarity. Well I haven’t been doing a good job at keeping up with the date, and when I was able to have some time, I felt that I was itching to get to what I had to do instead. So rather than this working for me, it was working against me as I was more anxious, it made me focus more on the outcome rather than the process. To be honest, I planned this after reading what other people were doing and the benefit of it but I didn’t think of how this will work for ME. The good thing is that I tried it and now I know it doesn’t work for me in the same way it works for others. But what I was able to do is to observe when and how I needed this time with myself. This is what I found out:

In the morning, I get my boost if I am on top of things, so doing a couple of simple tasks will give me the lift I need to start the day (e.g get the dishes out of the way, getting lunch packed…). If I start the day with meditation or sitting down with myself first, I feel too anxious to do the mediation and don’t get the benefit it. What I need first thing is knowing that I’ve got things under control, sometimes just sitting down and writing down what I have to do before I start is very helpful. It actually depends on the day and how busy it looks. I am still working on what works with starting my morning. But spending time with myself means being in a quiet place/on my own for as little or as long as I need and can. For example, at work, heading out at lunch time on my own works wonders, I meditate, take a micro nap in the car or just look at the trees and breathe. At home, I can take 30 mins to 1 hr by myself in the morning on the weekend, to write and prepare my day. Then if I need time during the day, I will have 1 hour after lunch alone or if I didn’t get a chance, at night I’ll have a bath alone.

Having all these time with myself, helps me to recharge and be alive again. It helps me to have more energy for others (my family, colleagues, friends). I have learned to say no, especially to social request (even though I do not have many, I barely go out or attend gatherings). But If for example I have had a lot of work commitment (staff meetings, parents meeting or I’ve been working a lot more as I have to be interacting with people all day long including the children, families and teachers), then I need to recharge before I could give the same to my family. So for me its about the right balance and knowing how to listen to my body! oh and I’ve let go of feeling guilty about that. I have learned to love and accept myself the way I am. As an introvert and an empath, social gathering takes a lot of my energy even though I LOVE interacting with people. So being able to recharge with some alone time is a must for me!

What about you? Do you need to spend time with yourself? Do you have a chance to do so? Do you feel guilty when you are having some time alone? What have you tried? What works for you? Let me know in the comment below!

To the BEST IN YOU

Corinne XOXO

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