Thursday Thoughts - Retreat

Journal Prompt – Take a mini retreat. Listen to the voice of your soul. We tend to burn ourselves out due to the high expectations placed upon us by society and even ourselves. Slow down, rest, or your body is going to do it for you when you least expect it. Practice the pause today, take a mini moment for yourself or even take a mini vacation! Go away for the weekend! For your journal entry, write about how you’re feeling right now, and then write about how you feel after you take your break. Whatever that break ends up being. Rest your mind, body, and soul.

At one point, a few years ago, things were tight. I was working 3 jobs at a time and just barely got one day off a week, which was usually spent either doing nothing or trying to gather up enough energy to see my friends. They didn’t understand what I was going through, and I tried to see them when I could, but that part was rough too, and really contributed to my burnout as well. Between my two main jobs I was gone about 14 hours or more, plus I cleaned homes for two families every other week.

One day I was about to leave for one of those shifts and I felt off, even my dog was looking at me funny and kept trying to cuddle with me, he only did this when we were sick or sad. I knew I wasn’t feeling well but I left anyway because I couldn’t afford to miss a shift. When I got there the supervisor, who was also my aunt, took one look at me and said, “go home”. As soon as I got home, I started throwing up my entire life for the next 24 hours. Missed about 2 or 3 days of all of my jobs. This came out of nowhere. This brought about some changes.

I found a different job to replace another but was still working the 3 jobs. It was a bit better losing the other job, it was awful at that place, but I was still losing a lot of weight and worn right out. A great opportunity came about that allowed all of us to work and live in an apartment building. That opportunity probably saved my life, even though this place ended up teaching us different lessons. I had a bit more time on my hands and wasn’t struggling through my days, I was happier.

My mistake was not valuing myself enough to know when to take a break. I was too focused on working all the time and not enough on my health. I could have taken a break, a weekend off, but I never did. My body ended up telling me and others that I was in trouble. This is why it is so important to take a break, care for yourself. Balancing the scales. It’s okay to work and be successful, but what’s the point of all of that if you’re not healthy/well enough to enjoy the fruits of your labor?

Follow along in your own journal! Have fun! Reflect! Release what you need to!