PHILIPPA MANNAGH
LIKED MEDIA
As my tired body floated weightless in the crystal clear waters of Smugglers Cove, Northland, I tried to recall the last time that I had dropped my plans to surround my senses in paradise. This is practically on our doorstep yet, it must have been life before kids when I took the time just for me to breathe it all in. Life gets busy. Even if you make a trip with kids, there are less chances to stop and appreciate the beauty around you as mothers hawk eyes are focused steadily on eliminating danger, disease or disgust.
Today was mine.
I could feel the soft sand under foot, soft like icing sugar is to touch. Swaying effortlessly under the water as the waves danced upon the seaside. The sun shone down on the ocean, creating a blanket of sequins as far as the eye could see. I wondered, what stories lay beneath my feet, what part of history has gone untold from years ago… and why was there a small concrete door on the side of that island below?
Today I was reminded of how important days like this are. How few and far between they become while juggling kids, businesses, sports, birthdays, school and finances. Days had become busy again since term one started and as the business has grown over the years, it demands more and more of me, being a solo-preneaur. It’s very easy to keep going all day and all night and never get through the to-do list when you manage your own company. Days like this are soon forgotten from memory and then they don’t even register on your radar. Day in and day out becomes a routine, a pattern and a set amount of hours to work between.
What struck me today and I hope this speaks to some of you too is, to remember this:
YOU ARE YOUR OWN BOSS!
Was this the reason you went into business? To be flexible, to be more available for family life, to work less hours than before? To have better balance, to choose your lifestyle?
Why must we then be reminded to take a break from time to time? Time to restore your creative juices, to become more productive, to fill your cup so you can then fill others… to just STOP and look around, breathing in life itself. So, I bunked work today. I watched my feet as the sea water massaged my skin. The cool waters began to heal my day, my day that had begun with feeling drained after a busy week. and give it my all only to crash in the evening and do it all again. Times have changed this year, I will no longer rely on a third coffee to disguise my body yelling at me for some rest.
When a friend messaged me to join her on a walk, there were one thousand reasons I almost didn’t go. My head told me to knuckle down and work, work, work although my heart and body screamed GO woman, go!
Listen.
Listen to yourself, trust yourself and work wisely.
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU TOOK A BREAK?