Hey Guys,
I hope you are doing well and keeping warm in this rainy weather (for those in Kenya). Today’s post is a day late because my schedule has been a little off, thanks for being patient with me. I’ll be sharing some formal looks in today’s post, as requested by a number of you, while talking about balance: finding it, keeping it and regaining it.
For my formal looks, dull colors are mandatory for the profession but I’ll be sharing little tips to make the outfits a little more interesting under the individual looks.
On to today’s topic: I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who struggles with finding balance among all the different facets of my life. I especially struggle with immersing myself in one facet of my life completely and disregarding everything else. For instance, with school I always find myself going over and beyond to keep up with my deadlines, group work, CATs and extra reading that I completely forget to listen to my body and get some rest, until I drink too much coffee, my body breaks down then I begin to listen to my body. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who gets this way but I’ve been having the hardest time figuring out this balance. Letting myself disappear so much in school usually makes any free time I have, end up being spent alone in the comfort of my home (bed, more specifically) trying to catch up on some sleep or watching a show.
A lot of my university experience has been losing this balance and trying to find it again. (I’m sure a lot of you noticed this with the several hiatus I’ve taken where school has been a major contributory factor) . I’ve however learnt some ways to intentionally work towards this balance and I hope these tips help those of you struggling with this too.
Pick your phone up and make a phone call, send a nice message, DM or even email. A lot of times when we lose this balance, we lose touch with people so I’m learning that since I can’t continuously keep up with my friends, a nice message checking up on them or call just to let them know that you are still thinking about it and genuinely care about how they are doing is good. Sometimes, the phone call or message could be to set up a short half an hour to an hour coffee date to catch up when you have a few minutes. This has definitely being something that is getting harder and harder as I get busier but being very intentional about it is teaching me to better at it.
Schedule time to do things that make you happy. The way you schedule all the other things in your To Do List, be intentional about scheduling those things that give you a little break from your intense day. It doesn’t need to be too much time, it just needs to be a few minutes to give you that little boost. For me, this is usually a face mask or reading a chapter of a book or reading a few of my favorite blogs or drinking a cup of tea and catching with the fam. You may use these activities as incentives to complete different tasks and then plan them out in between your different tasks. Giving these activities priority, even for a few minutes, ensures you’re listen to the needs of your body, your mind, heart and spirit.
Get an accountability person/ accountability persons. This has been instrumental in finding balance because as mentioned earlier, I very easily wholly immerse myself in one thing. Have a person or three, to point out that you’ve been looking tired or drinking much more coffee (story of my student life) or overworking yourself and isolating yourself is important. Personally, these people in my life aren’t necessarily appointed for accountability but just friends who know me well enough to inquire and consistently keep me in check. I am so grateful for these people who keep me on toes and you should definitely check the people around you to make sure you aren’t all losing balance together but actually keeping each other in check.
Spend time alone. Personally, this is a default setting but ensuring that I am spending this time not only watching youtube videos (guilty), watching Friends (guilty) or sleeping (guilty again) but also checking in with myself is the challenge. When I start to lose my balance then I start to notice a pattern in the things I do when I’m alone which usually don’t include introspection. Introspection is vital to evaluate where you’re at and in maintaining or regaining balance where you lost it. I do this sometimes in complete silence or when I take myself out on a date or while listening to music and drinking a mug of tea in the comfort of my bed. Find a way to create time for this introspection- for some people they schedule it doing their spiritual quiet time or as the last thing of the day before sleep while others schedule it as the first thing of the day. If you enjoy writing, journaling is a great way to be in touch with yourself and you should definitely look into the stream of consciousness type of journaling. This is something I recently begun doing and Lavendaire on Youtube will be of great help to you.
I hope this tips help you out and you enjoyed this post and the outfits from the week in my formal wardrobe. Do let me know if these help you long term!
“And never forget that I am with you every day, even to the completion of this age.” Matthew 28:20
Be Kind and Be Courageous,
Michelle.
Blooming Butterfly 