#WCW=We Can Wednesday: Time Out For YOU
/Right now, as I sit at my laptop, it is with somewhat of a heavy heart. A halfway heavy heart, if you will. Why? Because I have two awesome tickets to attend the Beyoncé Formation Tour at Met Life Stadium tonight.... An awesome show with awesome seats that has been postponed. But don't cry for me Argentina, soon I will be with the Hive fanning out with the same awesome energy (if not more) as I would have tonight. Awesome.
I bring this up for more than just a flimsy reach for sympathy, I have a point. Close your eyes and imagine yourself as Beyoncé.... It would be great, right?! Insanely talented, ridiculously rich, with Jay and Blue living the fabulous life. Now think about all of the people who rely on Beyoncé for their livelihoods, both directly and indirectly; the dancers, band, managers, producers, crew, and on and on. We haven't even mentioned the thousands of fans who pay hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to watch her perform, looking to her for the entertainment experience of a lifetime. When you think about the scope of responsibilities that lie on her shoulders, its a lot! Like, a hell of a lot. Enough to want to run and hide just thinking of it all. However, she meets the challenge every time. Every tour better than the next, more demanding but more dazzling to her adoring fans. But what at what cost to her own self care?
Now think about your own life. Look at all of the things that you are responsible for, all of the lives that depend on you. Consider all of the hours you put in at work; completing projects, traveling, staying after hours, making things happen day after day. Now add to that your duties at home. Got kids? A partner? Parents? Siblings? Friends? They need you too. All of these people demand a portion of your time and energy, each need a piece of you. In an effort to meet these demands, many of us have a tendency to push ourselves to the limits of our own mental and physical capacities, sometimes to the point where we do irreparable damage.
So what happens when you run out of pieces to give?
People always reference the pre-flight safety demonstration where passengers are instructed to apply the oxygen mask to themselves before they assist others. Beyoncé's postponed performance seems to be no different. Doctors orders or not, sometimes you just need to take a time-out for you. Taking a break gives you the opportunity to reset and rejoin life with new energy. Your time-out may not mean rescheduling a show at Met Life Stadium, but it can be a short walk outside between meetings. A counseling session or a heart-to-heart with a confidant may do wonders for your healing process. Maybe a yoga session will help you stop, breathe in, and exhale the stress away. You may not have the ability to take a fantasy vacation, but maybe a mani-pedi and a good juicy novel can give you back some of the pieces of you that have been given away.
In this journey, you cannot give what you do not have. Take the time to take care of yourself, heal yourself, love yourself, not only for yourself but to be better equipped to meet the demands of all that you encounter each day.