Aspire Magazine: Inspiration for a Woman's Soul.(TM) Dec/Jan 2018 Aspire Mag Full Issue: Taking Time fo | Page 58
on my little sister - a task bequeathed to me
as the oldest of three kids - I managed to
land a few regular babysitting gigs.
During each school year I made the honor
roll, and in college I chose a double major
and a minor, because majoring in one area
of study wasn’t enough.
Somehow I managed it all with ease and
flow... except during those last minute cram
sessions before finals. Those were stressful
times. But I graduated college prepared to
work full-time and still enjoy life.
I hit the ground running by landing my first
official corporate job. I felt the urgency of my
fellow travelers in the rat race. They were
breathing down my neck and pushing me to
move at full-speed toward the shiny water
cooler of success.
And this continued throughout my corporate
career. Life felt incredibly imbalanced.
Each time I quit a job I hoped for a slower,
more manageable pace. At times I could
find it, other times I had to create it, but too
often I was in a state of chronic hurry-worry.
What happened?
Some might say it’s just the way life is. It’s
part of being an adult.
Others might say times have changed, with
the lines between work and life becoming
increasingly blurred.
Both of which make sense, and there
could be other reasons. I do know for sure
that somewhere along the way I got the
message that I had to be a productive, hard-
working adult and that would lead to a life of
happiness and success. Sleeping in or being
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sick was for wimps. Forget taking more than
a few days off for vacation. There was an
expectation to give all of myself to a job and
sacrifice my personal time, leaving little to no
room to reflect on my life, enjoy my passions,
and explore the needs of my soul.
Perhaps you’re working 40+ hours a week
with hardly any time off. Or when you are on
vacation, you’re still working.
Maybe you sit through a busy commute to
arrive home in time to rush your kids off to
soccer practice or piano lessons. After you
return home it’s time for dinner, homework,
baths, or some combination thereof. Later
in the evening, after the kids are in bed, you
check your phone for any updates at work
or on Facebook… because you don’t want
to miss any big news. FOMO is real.
Even if you don’t have kids, you still feel
as if you have no free time. When you do,
you feel guilty, scheduling yourself back-
to-back without any time to breathe. You’re
convinced that if you’re not constantly busy,
you don’t have the right to exist.
When do you have time to relax? When do
you have time to reflect on what’s working in
your life and what isn’t?
There are plenty of articles out there about
how to manage your time. I even wrote one
myself. But one thing those articles don’t
address is the pervasive “do more, be
more” mentality.
You know you’re trapped in a vicious cycle
that you want to escape, but you don’t see
any other options.
It’s hard to see other options, especially in a
culture that encourages a frantic lifestyle and
discourages rest. But if you rest for a few
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