Slow Down & Soak It In

September means back to school, back to routine, back to extracurriculars. Calendars begin to fill up and the slow, laid back pace of summer seems like a distant memory.
Sound familiar?
After a recent conversation with some fellow mamas we came to the conclusion that we’re all trying to do too much. Let me explain … Somehow, somewhere, at some point in time we were told that we have to do it all, we have to do it right now and we have to “grind” because we only have so much time to make memories and find success.

We need to have more.
We need a bigger home.
We need to find success.
Our children need experiences.
Our children need to be in many extra curricular activities to help them be well rounded.
Our family needs to take trips to make memories.

All right now.

I want to tell you that none of that is true. This past summer I jam packed many of our weekends with outings and activities because weekends were the only point we were all home together and I felt I had to make the most of it. Eventually, I felt physically, mentally and financially exhausted. I intentionally chose a weekend where we did nothing. We played at home, went for a walk in our neighbourhood, popped popcorn and watched movies in bed. It was wonderful. It was relaxing. It was refreshing. All because I chose to intentionally slow down and stopped trying to make lasting memories. Truth be told, we made some pretty amazing memories that weekend.

This morning I encourage you to intentionally slow down. Slowing down will look different for many people. Maybe it means sitting in a park and observing nature, maybe it means picking a day or weekend and wiping it clean of engagements and activities. Or maybe for you it means putting your phone down and being present without scrolling your email or social media. Whatever it looks like for you, I encourage you to slow down, take a few deep breaths, be present and soak it all in.

Happy Rise Up Monday, Everyone.