It would be remiss of me not to post about my latest trip. I traveled to the beautiful Italy. It was fantastic! The pictures I took didn’t even do justice to the beautiful scenery throughout Tuscany, Positano, Sorrento and Rome. I went there for a wedding and stayed for additional days with a group of friends, and we made the most out of the trip, booking dinner reservations, beach club days, and boat trips. I’m really happy we did all of these things in order to experience a lot of what Italy has to offer (and there was still so, so much that we could have done!), but it also reminded me of the need to balance. Even though this trip was a celebration and vacation, I found myself exhausted by the last day.
I tend to think about balance in relation to work, but sometimes even the fun things in life can leave us feeling misaligned too. My last day in Italy, I sat down for my final pasta lunch, and then just relaxed in the hotel for the rest of the day. And that was what I needed. That was the self-care that I needed to provide myself before embarking home and back to reality.
I think social media can make taking this time for self-care more difficult, as we are constantly seeing what other people are doing, where they’re going, and what experiences they’re having, which can perhaps make us feel pressured to do as many things as we can (and show the world!). But importantly, we need to stop and consider how we’re feeling and give our body what it needs. And sometimes, it may be a few hours of binge watching Netflix in the hotel room. And that’s fine.
Today, I urge you to take a minute to notice what your body and soul need, and lean into that need. You may have to wait until you complete your responsibilities for the day, but don’t disregard what you believe you can do to feel more aligned. Embrace it.