Ladies imagine the scene (as I
am sure you can very well!) you get in from a busy day, you have been in back
to back meetings, your lunch is still half eaten in the foot well of your car,
the cup of tea a colleague kindly made you at 9am that morning is still sat
there, cold and untouched, your phone is flashing with unreturned calls and
texts and you have committed yourself to doing some one a favour tonight, which
you honestly don’t mind doing and want to do but how do you fit it all in. This
is all without giving time to our beloved other half and the little ones! The
thing is sometimes life is moving so fast we don't even know what's good for
us. Can we ever stop and smell the roses? Or are we living life at a million
miles an hour and have no idea how to hit the brakes? Are we unknowingly
spiriling out of control, doing too much and spreading ourselves to thin? Are
we encouraged so often to say yes more, to regret the things we have done as opposed
to the ones that we haven’t, that we are doing it all and not stopping to appreciate
it? Between an average 40+ hours working week, friends, family and
relationships where is the 'me' time we so badly need? As women, we actively encourage
and inspire each other to have it all. To live wild and free yet do it carrying
all the daily responsibilities that we have taken on. That’s quite a huge ask
of any one.
Interestingly, men on the other
hand, don’t appear to have this problem. They can get home from work, dinner
will be on the table (thanks to us) then it is a quick shower and change before
giving the xbox / friends/ football some much deserved attention! Yet we are
running around in Kurt Geiger’s finest sky scrapper high heels, All Saints
pencil skirt and Chanel lipstick (unsmudged) doing ten things at once. How do
they do it….?
For most ladies ‘me time’ involves
some serious internet retail therapy (no time to go to real life shops and the
mirrors are so unflattering!) some time with Sky+ and no alarm clock screaming
at us at 6am. But sometimes, for most of us, the hardest thing is to switch off
and take some time out. To put our phone on silent, make a do list of we want
to do and decline the social invitations we are swamped with.
Life (well the Indian consulate
and is crazy slow processing system) has recently forced me to take some time
off. A first in my world really as I am not a sit still and talk about the
dream kinda gal. But much more of a grab life by both hands, enjoy the ride and
live the dream type of person. So a week off with nothing to accept wait for
India to let me in came as quite a shock to the system! The first few days were
a little confusing with no work and no massive urgent commitments to attend to,
I felt like I was at University again. But slowly I got used to it and began to
stop and smell the roses. I baked cakes, shopped until I dropped, had pamper
sessions, watched films, did more yoga and running than usual and ate, a lot,
with no calorie counting. The freedom was incredible. So as I reflected on my
week off I realised the true pleasure in all this. The true pleasure in my time
off has been in being able to see my loved ones enjoyment in sharing these experiences.
I can’t imagine baking a cake and having no friends to dig in with their forks eagerly
poised before it is even out of the oven or to enjoy the stillness of a swim
and sauna session without one off your besties joining you. What is the point
in baking cakes or buying new dresses if there is no one to share them with? So
as I take a deep breath, put on my favourite Bobby Brown lip-gloss, slip on my
highest Office heels, square my shoulders and head back into the race of life I
realised that so as long we have wonderful friends and family supporting and
surrounding us we may be in that race but we have already won first place xX.
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