To recharge… what is that? And what does it even mean? It’s time to make it a habit to recharge yourself. You see, we have the tendency to have plenty of energy for so many people around us. We give and do, and give and do, over and over and over again, up to the point where we have nothing left inside of us. And those moments can be great, and good while we have the energy inside us to do it… But what about when we start being worn out? We always want to be here for everybody else. Keep in mind that you have to recharge yourself in order to have the ability to continue to do that for others.
When You Forget About Yourself
Too often we forget about ourselves. We forget to recharge the needed energy. And when we don’t do that, we end up feeling empty. That’s when our mind starts wandering around in negative thoughts. We get tired. We don’t want to do much anymore. And it’s in these moments we get worn out. We feel ‘just done’. It’s the moment you feel exhausted. And in these moments you feel more anxious, and sometimes even depressed.
To recharge yourself is really important. In the middle of the life storms we have a simple tendency to simply forget about that. Or when we are caught in the habit of people-pleasing. Because we get so caught up in taking care of everyone around us, and to people-please others, to the point where we just don’t think about ourself anymore. That’s not good. Think about it… if on a plane you have to put the gas mask on, which one do you put on first? It’s yours, right? Because how are you supposed to help the person next to you with theirs, if yours is not on first?
How Come We Remember the Car and the Phone?
It’s interesting to me how we get home every evening, and recharge our phone, or the electric car. With no problem to remember that it needs to be done. If we don’t, it simply won’t work the next day. So why can’t we remember to recharge ourselves? How often has it happened to you where you got home from a long day, and didn’t take any time to recharge. The next morning, you got up, and felt even more tired and worn out than the night before? It happens, and happens often if we don’t remember that we need to do that for ourselves.
So, how do you that? That’s a great question. First, you might have to find out where a lot of your energy goes. Ask yourself: What am I putting a lot of my energy into? Is it work? Maybe the family and children? Then you have to find out, what you need to do for yourself in order to recharge. For example: I have an issue with being a little bit of a workaholic. I can spend the entire day at work, without breaks, without lunch, and such. By the end of the day, I feel super worn out. That is unhealthy. By the late afternoon, I won’t function too well anymore, and because of it, I won’t be as productive as I could anymore.
How Do I Plug Myself In Though?
Once you find out what or where the place is where most of your energy goes into, it’s time to break the habit, and make a commitment to get away from it everyday at least for a little bit. Commit to do something for yourself, to get your mind off of it for a bit. There are so many easy steps you can take, and things you can do in order for this to happen. For the example above, I will start taking the breaks, take short walks, and make sure I will take the lunch away from the screens. You might commit to stop by at a gym after work, and release the emotions you bottled up throughout the day. Perhaps schedule an hour body massage. Maybe you like to just take a walk in a park for 10 minutes after work. There are so many options to take.
Whatever helps you to recharge, do it. If it’s watching a movie, watch a movie. If you reading a book helps you, read a book. On my long days, I take a short 10 minute walk around a pond, and just talk with God about any and everything of that day. Sometimes I have really emotional days, sometimes I get off angry. Sometimes I am hurt, and sometimes I am having great days. But I talk about it. That helps me to recharge from that day. Find out what it is that you need to recharge yourself. You owe it to you.
Superheroes Take Breaks Too
Even the superheroes in the movies aren’t superheroes 24/7. Be okay with not answering every phone call, or every text message the second it comes through. It is okay not to. You don’t owe it to anybody. They can wait, that’s not a problem at all. If it’s something truly urgent, they’ll leave a voicemail.
This week, it’s time to break the habit of forgetting about yourself, and remembering how valuable you are. It’s time to start making it a habit to recharge your internal batteries on a regular basis. Start by writing down different things you like to do. Write down things that make you feel relaxed. Do you like to paint? Are you feeling the relaxation when working in the garden? Could it be a simple 20 minute nap? What gives you that needed energy back? Take that warm, relaxing bath, with your favorite smelling salt scrub or bath bomb. Splash around a little bit. Set the mood you like that truly helps your muscles to relax after that stressful day you just conquered.
If you recharge, by connecting with a friend, that’s great. But make sure that it is the friend that uplifts you, that listens, that brings positivity to the table. Because if you connect with a friend that is negative all the time, it will drag you down. And that does not help when you are looking for ways to get recharged. So make sure you surround yourself with the right people in times like these, and are honest with yourself about it.
Recharge, Refocus
I promise you, once you start doing that for yourself, you will feel so good afterwards. You feel recharged. You will be able to focus again, you will be positive about things, you will have the energy back that you need. Start scheduling a time, everyday, for yourself to do that. To simply recharge! Put that on your organizer, and stick with it. After these times, you feel refreshed.
Dedicate this week to figuring this out. And if there are times where you miss it, and you scheduled it for yourself, that’s okay. It happens. You are just learning, and at the beginning of making this a habit for yourself. And just keep trying, until it becomes a regular thing. I can’t wait to hear how you’re doing with this, and how it makes you feel as you go 😊. Hang in there. One step a time, remember?! You got this.
Very relevant for today’s time. Too many of us won’t take time to slow down from time to time to invest in ourselves and you’re right, you wind up feeling on “E” like a gas tank. I got away over the weekend to camp get out my comfort zone and with strangers and it was actually pretty great! Felt wonderful to forget about reality and technology and just appreciate the beauty of God’s creation; to meet new people and get to know them. The pandemic had everyone isolated for too long. Depression and anxiety are at an all time high on a global scale so it is certainly time for us individually to take time to recharge for sure. We owe it to ourselves!
Wow!! I am so glad you got to do that, and got to fully enjoy, and experience life a little bit again through the daily busyness. You are definitely right… We get lost so deeply in everyday ‘normalities’, that we don’t even realize it when we are worn out. Proud of you for taking the opportunity to just go, and have some fun 🙂