Happy Serenity Sunday everyone!
If you didn't have a chance to read our September Book Club pick this month, I've got you covered! I'm going to share with you my top takeaways!
For our summer vacation this year, we travelled back east to spend some time with family. We brought our trailer to PEI and spend almost the two full weeks at a campground in Cavendish. In previous years, we wanted to see so many people and do so many things that we would drive around the east coast to four different locations. By the time we got home, we were exhausted. We had done all of the things that we "should" have done, but we didn't do what we needed to do. And that was rest.
So you know what it means if you keep doing things the same way over and over again expecting different results don't you? So we made a change this time. We booked the entire trip in one location and gave my family lots of lead time to plan with us so that we could have the company and the rest too.
It worked out to be an amazing trip, and one that I know my kids will enjoy looking back on for years to come as will I. In the week leading up to the arrival of our company, I had lots of time to do one of the things that I love most in life, READING! My love of reading and sharing what I learn from those books is the reason that I created this book club. Heck, it's the reason I created this blog and am growing it into a business!
So here are my top takeaways from Oprah's new book and what they meant to me!
This message resonated with me to my deepest core. If you recently saw my instagram post which mentioned my experience in a yoga class, then you know that the teacher asked if we were where we needed to be in this life and my soul replied "NO!". And you also know that it has been a number of years that I'd been struggling to listen to my soul telling me that it was time to move on. I'm proud to say that I have spent the past almost 16 years of my life serving my country as a member of the Canadian Armed Forces. I joined the organization in 2004, right after finishing my university degree. I have absolutely loved serving. The friendships that I have gained and the experiences that I've lived through are ones that I would never change for a moment. Soon, I will be transitioning into a civilian career. My heart has been calling me towards the career that I am now creating for a long time but I had a very difficult time to let go. The more my inner knowing cried that there was something different that I needed to do, the more that I tried to hold it together with the career that I had. Accepting that it was no longer right for me felt like it would be a failing. Not listening to the knowing that there was a step in another direction that I needed to take was taking it's toll on me. I'll admit it's not the only thing that let me to the point of what Brené Brown would probably lovingly refer to as a complete breakdown. And perhaps it all had to play out that way to learn what I learnt from it to share my lessons with you. But my point is that you never need to feel like a failure when it is your time to move on to the next great love of your life. It doesn't make this stage of your life any less meaningful.
You know I talk alot about doing away with shoulds in our life. I might not be popular by saying this but I'm speaking from experience, both personal and watching it happen to my friends. There are many things in life that we must do. We must feed our children (furry ones or otherwise), we must take care of our basic physiological needs and those of the people who depend on us. We must do something to earn some form of income so that we can survive. But there are a whole host of things that we do that we do not need to do. We have been conditioned to think that we have to do many things that are not required to survive or enjoy our lives. However, we wear ourselves ragged trying to keep up with the demands that are placed on us (sometimes by ourselves). I hear time and time again that there is no time for self-care. I'm going to tell you something. You WILL have way more time than you ever wanted if you burnout and wear yourself into illness. I know, because this is what I did. We value busy. We value "how does she do it all?". But it's time, in this age of 1000 different priorities pulling in all directions to start valuing self-care. I am hereby writing you a permission slip to do something just for you TODAY. Not tomorrow, not when things settle down, TODAY. Phew, there! Doesn't that feel better? Now do that as often as you need to do it. You have permission to take care of yourself. It's not selfish, it's smart. Fill the battery and you'll have energy for others. It's that simple.
There are so many things that I could say about this one but I'm just going to say this. There are times in your life when certain relationships are no longer serving you. It's OK to take a step back. It's ok to think about you for awhile. Be open and honest with those people when you are taking that step back and I am confident that if they love you, they will give you space. If they cannot understand, then you may have to write yourself one of those permission slips. I've had people take distance from me and I've retreated into myself alot in the past year as well. I never used to understand and would often take it personally when they did it, but I now understand (the hard way) that sometimes we need to focus on taking care of ourselves and a retreat may be necessary if there are relationships in our lives which no longer serve us. It is also sometimes necessary to evaluate certain relationships and whether or not they are healthy for either of you to remain in. They are tough situations and tough decisions, but sometimes distance can help you in gaining perspective and making the right choice for both of you.
If you loved these quotes and you want to read the rest of the book, I encourage you to pick up your copy today by clicking on the link below. It is an Amazon affiliate link. Your support by making your purchase through this link will help me continue to be able to post content. I have both the audiobook and the hardcover book and they are both lovely. They are artistically quite beautiful as well as insightful.
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Until next time
xo, Kat
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