Please excuse my hyperbolic statement for a moment, but it’s been a tough month. We all have them, but not a lot of us talk about them. Here it’s been the being broke in the aftermath of an expensive December, the grief of having lost a beloved pet, and then! Then! My adult child has had two ER visits for two separate emergencies. I’m emotionally exhausted, the weather wavers between beautiful & crummy, and, well, this has been the longest January ever.
Did I give up though?
No. I keep going – though, I did have to get really, painfully, honest with myself about how much room I have on my plate. I’d wanted to start training for a half marathon again, but I just don’t have the bandwidth for it. I had to let go of my executive position with a startup. It’s not really giving up – it’s more of a being honest with myself about a “yes” that really should have been a “no” from the getgo. It’s like when you keep adding food to your plate at a big holiday meal, and it just falls off. It doesn’t matter how delicious something is – if your plate is full, it’s full.
What to Do When Life Is One Thing After Another
A few months ago, at a workshop put on by the local Girl Scouts council, we talked about filling your bucket. I prefer this to “self-care.” You cannot pour from an empty bucket. It’s impossible. And when life is one thing after another, it empties the bucket fast. When you find things that make you feel energetic, create a list. These are things that help fill your bucket – and I’m not talking about coffee, though grabbing coffee with a friend can certainly be something that fills your bucket.
Here Are Some Things That Fill My Bucket
Your list will probably look a lot different from mine – and that’s great. Here’s a list of things that help me to feel more energized and enable me to then pour from my bucket to enrich others.
- Being outdoors – my favorite thing to do outdoors is to take hikes and explore new areas and see things that you can only see if you’re travelling on foot.
- Photography – I enjoy taking photos of various things, mostly nature and landscapes, but also my kids and family and pets.
- Running/taking walks – granted, I prefer doing these outside, but even being active inside helps a lot.
- Being in or on the water – as a former swim team kid, I’m like a fish. Last summer, I discovered my love of kayaking in addition to enjoying swimming.
- Music – I LOVE music, but I have to be careful. Some music can make me more stressed or melancholic. I try to keep music upbeat – the kind that makes me want to get up, move around, and dance.
- Getting social – I enjoy getting out and being around people. Not all the time, but having a good balance, especially since I work full time from home, really helps. Sometimes, getting out and being around others even when I’m feeling meh, can be just the thing to cure the blahs.
- Swinging and playing with my kids on the playground – I had a recent non-scale victory this past weekend – I was able to get on the swings and have a great time showing my kids how to create their own momentum for the swings. I remembered how much i enjoy that activity.
- Exploring new places – I really like travelling and going out to new places to eat and seeing new things. I even like being a tourist in my own city.
What Fills Your Bucket?
What sorts of things do you enjoy doing that help you to fill your bucket when it feels like things are spinning out of control? Share what you do in the comments.
