I have the next week off work starting tomorrow. I finished my last email around 9pm this evening and shut down my laptop until 1st Sept. Looking forward to some time off. Apart from a few appointments that I need to take the girls to next week (hair cut, dentist, orthodontist etc.) I should be able to take it easy and get some long awaiting jobs ticked off my list.

So, after a long working day, I wasn’t about to start anything big this evening; however, I did do some jobs at lunchtime today… put some washing away, cleaned the kitchen and watered the plants. There’s plenty of time for decluttering and creating space whilst I’m off.

I treated myself to a relaxing evening… had a shower, did the minimum I needed to do in the kitchen and then just read and listened to some audio books for a bit.

A few ideas on my lifestyle changes

I’d like to make some changes to my life to add in more reflection time and me time. I’ve been hearing more and more about how beneficial this is (which deep down I knew anyway). I’m choosing more and more not to sit in the lounge in the evening and watch TV with everyone just because that’s what we’ve always done. I want a choice… sometimes it feels right to do that and sometimes I just want to sit in silence.

I think it might be as simple as adding a few more routines into my day where I take time for me; to reflect on life. The routines I currently have in place when I wake up are to stretch for five minutes whilst doing some deep breathing. I hardly ever miss that. Sometimes I go for a walk.

I always end my day listening to a meditation track. I have an app called Synctuition which is working for me and they’ve just added a new level.

This week I’ve also added in some time in the conservatory first thing in the morning to eat my breakfast either in silence or whilst reading or listening to something inspirational. This is all possible because the room is fully decluttered now and it feels great!

I recently stumbled upon Mo Gawdat’s 14 day Happiness Challenge where he’s teamed up with the company Rituals Cosmetics and there’s a short 5 to 7 minute video to watch every day for 14 days (today was day 11). This morning I found another video that I’d missed the week before the challenge began and as I listened, the following sentence struck a cord with me…

You are in charge of your happiness and regardless of what’s happening in the world, if you have your habits (your rituals) in place, you can still find happiness regardless of the events of life.

Mo Gawdat, From You Tube video Meet Mo Gawdat, Happiness Ambassador

So, from now on my ‘me time’ will include my rituals… my habits, and I will try and embed them into my life from now on.

Absolutely looking forward to tomorrow.

Until then…

Sandra