Day 45 Maintaining Margin
Reduce your stress by creating space in your day
Today’s practice invites us to create or maintain some margin in our schedule. What was that practice like for you? Did you already have margin in your day? Did you have to change your plans in order to make that happen? How difficult would it be to do that on a regular basis?
Register for Saturday’s Zoom Session
On Saturday, March 30, we will hold our closing session from 11am-12pm eastern time. Dr. Chanequa will share tips for creating and utilizing the Self-Care Rule of Life. Register for the session here.
Given the season I am currently going through, I have been able to rediscover having lots of margin. When the schedule gets too crowded, my body lets me know that I am starting to be on overdrive, with headache and sleep disruption. It is like I am driving a stick shift car on the wrong gear. Once I shift my "margin" to the right gear, I can sit with self-care practices much easier. Doing the Lenten study in community has been very helpful. It has been like having an "accountability village" to accompany along the way and keep me focused.
This mom-to-a-cancer-kid season has forced me to have lots of margin! No volunteering, no responsibilities to anything outside of work and family — I actually have weekends with nothing I *have* to do. But the old me feels this chapter SO MUCH as I’ve been an achievement addict for a long time, proud of how much capacity I have and how much I could get done, and some forms of self care got shoved off the margins into nonexistence or felt like an unachievable burden. Through these reflections, I’m starting to see this season as an opportunity to intentionally build self care routines into my life.