Skip to main content

Recharge Your Batteries

Fog. It's this thing I've been walking around in for the last couple of weeks. I haven't felt like myself in quite a while. Between the packed schedule at home and the packed schedule at work combined with all of the curveballs added on top, I have been one physically and mentally exhausted subhuman of myself. Last night I made my family go to sleep early; two hours earlier than I normally go to bed to be exact. Let me just tell you! Today, I feel like a new me.

Perhaps it's because this week marks the last ballgame of the season and we will no longer be running to the ball field four nights a week. This week, my work calendar isn't overflowing with meetings. This week, we have a fun weekend to work toward. This week, I finally have time to squeeze in much needed workouts. This week, my meals are planned. This week, even my kids can take a breather. 

The other day, I was so mentally tired that I didn’t even realize I didn’t fully start my car. I put it in reverse and it started to roll back, yet had a weird sound. I thought I was having car trouble, but really it was me who was having trouble functioning. Do you want to know when I truly knew something needed to change and I needed to reset my batteries? It happened on date night last weekend. It felt like while I was there physically, but mentally I was elsewhere. My husband and I were having a conversation and he mentioned someone's name. In that moment, I wracked my brain, because I had no idea who he was talking about. This person is someone we've known for a long time. Why on earth couldn't I recall who that person was? It was in that moment that my inner voice said "holy crap Crystal! You are a wreck and it's time to do something about it.”

The next morning I slept in until my kids woke me up for breakfast. 

This week, childcare has moved to a new location. Starting this week, I will no longer walk into daily chaos. I can unwind from my work day on a drive to pick my kids up. I can go home to an untouched house, the way I left it from the night before. I didn't realize how much that was also weighing on my mental state. 

All the while I've been feeling this way, I somehow managed to put my best face on for my kids and work. Inside though, I was screaming. It can be tough when you have so many people relying on you to find time to just....breathe. Here's the thing, if you don't make that time, you are going to crash. I felt myself on the brink of crashing. In that moment, on the way to date night, it truly hit me. It was time to slow down, take a breath and reset my batteries. 

Whatever you need to do to reset yourself, don't push that need to the back burner. In my case, I needed to sleep. I hadn't fallen into a deep sleep for so long, because I couldn't shut my brain down. I was finally able to do that Sunday and Monday. Also remember, it's okay to say no. We need to stop overflowing our calendars and be in the moment sometimes. Stop. Sip a glass of wine. Play a game with your kids. Watch some mindless television. Go to the gym. Whatever it takes. Reset your batteries. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What I Learned from Frugal January

While I don't believe in new year resolutions, I do believe in goals, aspirations and dreams. As a society, we're made to feel that with each new year, we must make resolutions, which more often than not, fade by March or set us up for failure. The feeling of failure is never good for the spirit, so a couple of years ago, I decided to stop giving in to that societal pressure. I have found that self-reflection is an excellent place to begin a new year and set realistic goals. This year, I started by challenging myself to what I named Frugal January. It's exactly what it sounds like. I challenged myself to only spend on necessities. I gave up runs to the coffee shop and trips to TJ Maxx. I gave up frivolous, careless and impulse-based spending, no matter how big or small it was. I asked myself one question with every single purchase decision, "do I really need this?" If I could live without it, I declined it. Did this cause me physical pain at times? Yes! There were...
Post a Comment
Read more

2023 Taking Care of Me

For me, 2023 has been a year of conquering fears and making lifestyle changes. As parents, how often do we place ourselves on the back burner? It's so common and I am 100% guilty of it. This year, something inside of me clicked. Maybe it's the whole "wisdom with age" thing. Maybe it's finally getting the courage to go to therapy. Perhaps, it's a little bit of both. For me, it happened with a 3-step plan. It's a plan that terrified me, but I held myself accountable and put the plan into action.  Step 1: Medical Health January 2023, the 4th to be exact, started with a wellness visit to my primary care doctor. Was I even allowed to refer to her as that when I hadn't paid her a visit since 2018? Yes. 2018. Of course, we had the whole pandemic thing in the mix, but we can only use that excuse for so long. I hadn't had a women's well check since 2018. I was having all kinds of strange symptoms, that I told myself was just the downward spiral to 40 (n...
Post a Comment
Read more

Betty's Story

 Let me preface with this. The Zehnle family was not looking for a dog. For over a decade, I remained firm in my stance against getting a big dog. The commitment, costs, added responsibility to our already loaded plate, my need for clean, etc, were all reasons why I never thought that adding a big dog to our family would be a good idea. I also believe that sometimes four legged family members find you at the right time, when you are not even looking. I'll admit, hearing Michael's half of that phone call made my skin crawl at the idea. However, I saw his face. And in that moment, I knew it was happening. I can't be the villain forever and he was willing to step up and take care of her.  After that phone call, I had the next couple of weeks to wrap my head around the idea. Ready or not, Betty was coming to live with The Zehnles. I'll be honest, I lived in total denial for those couple of weeks and prayed that things would fall through. That Saturday morning arrived though...
Post a Comment
Read more