Me, myself, and moi.

I believe that no matter what your physical appearance looks like, no one can be complete without having some kind of emotional and spiritual balance in their lives. I know that when I lose that balance I usually end up running myself into the ground, completely frazzled. Trust me, I am not here to preach any kind of religious belief to you- I have always felt that was personal within people. But there is ONE extra special person whom I feel you must make an emotional connection with in order to live your life completely and spherically: YOU.

I know it may sound selfish but I have always been one of my number one priorities. I don't see that kind of behavior as self-absorbed, but rather outwardly concerned. I feel that one can never give fully of themselves to the world in need if they don't have themselves relatively figured out. You have to be at peace within yourself in order to bring any kind of joy or peace to the people whom you care about. But herein lies the modern woman's dilemma... where on Earth do you find time for YOU?

I find it fascinating how busy I am, and I mean really amazing. I am young with relatively few health problems, no children, no spouse, and while I try to involve myself in the community- I'm not exactly heading up any PTA boards if you catch my drift. So why is it that I seem to be running around like a chicken with my head cut off at almost all points of my day? A typical day for me looks something like this:

Wake up, rush to get ready for work, commute 30 minutes to my office, work all day (usually without a lunch break), get off work, commute 30-45 minutes home, take a shower, tidy up the house/my room/what appears to be my boyfriend's indoor tornado, help cook dinner/help eat dinner that my loving boyfriend has cooked while I clean up his tornado, watch a TV show, fall asleep.

You will notice that nowhere in there does it say, "Take a relaxing bath surrounded my Lavender candles," or, "Brush my hair 100 strokes." It rarely even says anything like, "Go to the grocery store," because there never seems to be the time or energy to do any of those things. And it took me some time, but I finally realized why. It isn't that I have no time on my hands, it's that I don't have any ENERGY left to give to doing much towards the end of my day. I have nothing left to give once I have been answering phones and assisting customers all day. And the reason? Because I need to take some "me time" before I can give anyone or anything else my time.

Me time is important because it gives us a chance to stop and breathe. It allows us to collect ourselves and therefore have a better "us" to present to the world. If I don't have a chance to stop and connect my thoughts together I will inevitably proceed with scrambled thoughts until I do.

Interestingly enough, Me Time doesn't have to be spent in solitary confinement. You can squeeze in some small amount of self-meditation in the darnedest of places. I read an interview with a Tibetan Monk who emphasized the ability to basically stop and smell the roses no matter where he was. In Tibetan culture, they take over an hour to drink their morning tea. This is because it is about so much more than drinking tea for them. It's the process of enjoying the tea. Taking sip by sip, rolling the flavor around in your mouth, and considering what you like about the tea itself. This may sound unheard of to most Americans, but it sounds just lovely to me. We all know better than to think life is about anything else but the ride.

I'm not saying that we ought to disregard our jobs and families and sit around dwelling on the meaning of Tea all day. I simply think that if we can find a few moments to clear our minds and focus on enjoying the things around us that we can subconsciously collect our thoughts and throw out the unimportant things clouding our minds. I, for one, have two things that I do to relax and meditate: showering and laundry. Showering to me isn't just a way to get clean. It's a way to rinse off the troubles of my work day and start my personal day fresh and worry-free. I have a difficult time going from work to play without mixing in a shower first. Laundry to me is the same thing. I enjoy the organization of separating laundry, and better yet the smell of it when it's clean and fresh. I take that time to have some "me time," and not think about the world at large. If I have an hour to spend on nothing in particular, reading or painting serve as my Me Time. It's all about what you can fit into your schedule that day. Spa days at home are also excellent when you have the time to commit to it. No matter what I do, my goal is to come out of it clear-headed and refreshed. And I usually do.

I highly recommend spending time with yourself. At the risk of stealing a line from L'Oreal: You're worth it!

Love,

Lula Mae