Do you ever feel burnt out? Do you ever feel like you’re just going through the motions? Life can be crazy sometimes. Life can sweep you up in this whirlwind, especially in our society today. We’re all go go go and busy busy busy. When was the last time you just slowed down for a minute? When was the last time you closed your eyes, took a deep breath of fresh air, and spent some time completely alone?

We don’t really do that anymore, do we? Stop and smell the roses, as they say. Spend time alone, refreshing and recharging. I need my morning time with my Bible and occasionally a devotional. But you don’t have to be a Christian or of any religion to spend time alone, reflecting and resting. It’s “me time.” And everyone needs it, regardless of nationality, skin color, sex, political affiliation, or religious beliefs. As humans, as people, we need time to ourselves every now and then. It’s the time when you let go, focus on what’s truly important to you, and refuel for the next period of time until you can stop, recharge, reset, and repeat.

Alone time is best served on a regular basis. Taking time sporadically can still be useful, but I think time that is built in and planned on yields the best results. I’m a morning person, so I have found that when I take my alone time in the mornings, it’s more productive and more fruitful for me personally. When I’ve taken—or attempted to take in some cases—alone time in the evenings or right before bed, I’m usually too stressed, too tired, and too busy thinking about what I need to do for the next day. With a brain already filled to the brim and in the zone for creating task lists, it’s really hard to clear your mind and relax. But, everyone’s different, and you may find that your brain isn’t awake enough in the mornings to do anything. I get it. Some days I feel just the same.

On the days when I am bright-eyed and bushy tailed—or when I just sit down anyway because it’s important to me—I like to sit in my chair by the window and read my Bible by the sunlight. I don’t like lights in the morning and usually keep them off; it helps me wake up without being a complete grump. I typically eat breakfast first, because again, I’m a big of a grump without food. That way my mind isn’t focused on my growling stomach and I have no impending tasks to distract me. I’ve also found it really helpful to keep my phone off or on silent and physically in another part of the room so I can’t reach for it while reading. Honestly, if it didn’t have an alarm on it giving me a warning before I have to leave for work, I’d leave it off completely or in another room entirely. (Sidenote, research has also been done that says that people shouldn’t turn their phones on or use them until at least thirty minutes after they’ve woken up!) Yes, I’m a weirdo, but I’d much rather be strange with good priorities than normal with a drug-like addiction to my electronic devices!

All that said, this is my normal morning time that I use to focus on what is important to me and what ways I can work on myself. What do I want to do with my life? Who do I want to be? I believe we can all be better people. Nobody’s perfect, y’all! So, during my alone time, I prioritize my goals and values, assess where I am spiritually and meditate on what areas I could use improvement on. Sometimes I just look for a bit of hope to cut through all the crazy and depressing of this broken world. This quite time is my anchor in the utter chaos of life. My day may be super crazy, but every morning I deliberately take the time to sit down for ten minutes, I find that I can swallow the crazy with a little more grace.

None of your “me time” has to be formal in any way. I use words like prioritize and assess, and y’all are probably thinking, Geeze, this girl must have it together to be awake that early, first of all, and secondly, what a nerd?! She has morning assessments? Who does that? I swear, guys, it’s not like that. It’s literally a thought that passes through my mind about what values I can focus on and instill in my every day life. That’s it. Nothing fancy. No charts or tests or even lists on paper. Just a fleeting thought about how I want more joy or more honesty in my life. It’s a prayer and an intentional decision to smile and speak kindly to others or to find hope in the dreary circumstances. Without this personal time to ground me and grow my roots in integrity and intentional character building, life controls me instead of me taking the reigns of life.

Yes, we get tired physically and sometimes that just means we need some iron (dark, leafy greens, mushrooms, and red meats!) and some seriously good sleep! But, sometimes we’re in situations that drain us emotionally, and we need to find practical ways recuperate. We have to have the emotional bandwidth to live this life. We can’t keep giving and giving and giving without a supply. The well will dry up at some point. We have to have hope and we have to replenish our emotional tank in order to keep charging head on.

So, how do you curb burn out? Find peace. How do you slow time? Make time. How do you live with purpose instead of going through the motions? You live intentionally. Put life goals, career goals, education goals on paper. Give yourself a deadline. Make your goals measurable and specific. And be sure they are goals that you want, goals you have for your life. Take the time, whether in the mornings, afternoons, or evenings, to unplug and recharge. Find something bigger than yourself to rest in. I rest in my God because He is the ultimate source of peace and direction. Without the calm at the center, without rooting yourself in a firm foundation, your life will tear you apart at the seams.

How do you recharge? What do you do to unplug and center yourself?

Love always,
Coralie

Going Through the Motions