Are you angry or is your cup just empty?

How many times has your partner walked into the room after a full day of running errands, working, taking care of the kiddos and trying to figure out what the heck everyone is having for dinner and asked

"What is wrong with you?"

Or have you snapped at one of your kids or your partner and you know it's not them it's you.

When I think back about my parents and my grandparents there was very little they ever did for stress relief or for fun for that matter. My parents are two of the hardest working people I have ever met so hustle was engrained in me from an early age. BUT......

All hustle and no fun, no stress relief, no exercise and maybe a poor diet leaves you with an empty cup and we all know

you cannot pour from an empty cup

So how do we fill this cup?

Below is a list of things that I find helpful now and just wish someone would have shook me and made me do when I was in the throws of raising kids and trying to do all of the things.

1. Recharge. This means different things for different folks. For me now I like to spend time recharging with Netflix or anything that doesn't require me to plan. I plan for a living and honestly doing nothing or just magically appearing somewhere sounds amazing by the time Friday comes. When I had littles I would have just appreciated a trip to the grocery store alone! Recharging could be learning a new hobby or reading about a topic you're interested in.

2. Fuel and Hydrate properly. This doesn't mean you need to be ON a "diet" or drink a gallon of water a day but you should absolutely be putting foods high in vitamins and minerals into your body, consuming less caffeine & sugar and making sure you are drinking ENOUGH water. If you put bad gas in the car it doesn't run properly.

3. MOVE YOUR BODY in a way that makes you happy and feels good. Not everyone loves to pump iron in the gym and that is okay. There are so many different types of exercise and many that don't ever require you to walk into a gym. Try a variety or different classes, videos or just get outside and take a walk. Combine No 1 and pop in a podcast and learn something new.

4. Find a hobby. Did you use to love painting or are you really good at cross stitching? Maybe you are amazing at writing short stories. Perhaps you have been wanting to dig that CriCut (guilty) that you bought during a work from home period (how dare we mutter the words) and do some projects around the house or start an Etsy shop? There are so many possibilities BUT take the opportunity to do something for YOU to have a creative outlet and feel some accomplishment!

5. Rest! Spending time meditating, napping or just being in a quiet room may seem like a novelty but just 20 minutes can make a big difference in how you feel for the rest of the day. Take some time to sit, rest and relax. The non stop GO GO GO is taxing on the adrenal system but that is a whole story for another day. This is also a great time to mention that SLEEP is important and uninterrupted sleep is critical in carrying out normal healthy body functions at night. Make sure you're getting 7-9 hours of shut eye each night!

Okay, so now that you have some tools in your toolbox don't think you have to implement everything at once. Try making small changes each day. If you haven't read James Clear's Atomic Habits I will link it here

If you found this helpful please share this blog post with a friend.

XO,

Stacy

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