A Sunday Reflection
I used to think "Sunday Funday" was another trap to make me feel like I wasn't doing enough things in my life. I mean, working 50ish hours a week (probably many more if I count all the times I checked Facebook Pages and my inbox at home) doesn't leave time for Sunday Funday. Sunday is reserved for laundry, meal prep, and maybe a bit of tidying up before launching into the week ahead.
(In fairness, my family almost always has a brunch of some kind (usually at home, and usually pretty low-brow) on Sundays. Even at my most stressed, most burned out, Sunday wasn't all chores -- but it was a day nearly always overwhelmed by a to-do list.)
Imagine my surprise when this morning I realized I was thinking, "I want to do something fun. I want to spend time with my family. I want to go somewhere." Within a half hour, my husband, and our 9yo daughter were dressed and heading to the Kansas City Zoo. We would spend the next 5 hours wandering, learning, watching, laughing. The only reason to check my watch was to ensure we'd be at the sea lion exhibit in time for the 1:30 show.
Over the last year, I have realized that all my "doing" was getting in the way of my living. The chronic to-do lists and persistent distraction on my phone created a sense of time scarcity. Every day, I felt, I was short on time. If I accounted for all the doing, there most certainly was no time for living. Most weekends or days off, for me, were accompanied by a mental refrain of "not enough time."
The thing about scarcity mindset in any of its forms is, it tends to be right. But here are two things I've discovered:
The opposite of scarcity is, in fact, not abundance. It's enough. When you're working full time and raising a couple of kids with busy lives (and also require a healthy amount of sleep to function), there's rarely such a thing as "abundant time.". So, what if the focus is enough time? What would happen if we told ourselves there was enough time to go for a walk? To sit still for 30 minutes to read, meditate, or pray? To go to the zoo on a Sunday?
Do what matters most, first. The laundry will never be all clean. Even at the end of laundry day, there are dirty clothes in the hamper by the time we go to bed. Every to do list has some fudging room on it. The toilets can go another day, or week, before being cleaned. For a few moments, I thought I could use a full unscheduled day to do some meal prep or canning, but I quickly realized I wanted less doing, more living. I craved an experience shared with my people. Do what matters most, first; I promise the other things will get done.
Typing up this reflection was spontaneous as our Sunday trip to the zoo, but this was one of those times I felt called to think it, write it, send it. And don't get me wrong -- not every Sunday can be a full-on fun day. But I can assure you that there's enough time to make it happen now and then. Your wellness is worth it.
Best,
Kristin
#k12prWell
Shawn McKillop, APR | @ShawnMcKillop on Twitter
Kristin Magette, APR | @kmagette on Twitter