105 Ways to Give a Book

Checking In With Myself

Every Sunday, Seven Impossible Things has a post that asks the blog readers to list seven (more or less) great things that happened in the past week. It’s become a weekly ritual for me, not only to read and respond, but also to revisit and reflect to come up with seven things. Personally, I like the idea of coming up with exactly seven things, because it forces me to look back at my week and find the great things that happened to me. Sometimes they are big and obvious. Sometimes they are small and discreet. But the weekly task serves as a reminder to me that even in the chaotic, crazy weeks, good things are happening and sometimes you just have to allow yourself to see them.

Every Friday, I stop by Robin Brande’s blog to report on the nice thing I’ve done for myself that week. Now treating myself is not my issue. I’m always the woman who will take a nap rather than sort the laundry if said nap is needed. I generally make time to read and play and soak in the sunshine. However, going to visit on Friday has reminded me to pay attention to when I treat myself and to how I treat myself. Sometimes it’s a gaudy ring that will just make me smile. Sometimes it’s taking a break in the hammock. But what’s important for me is mentally checking in to make sure I am keeping some balance in what I’m giving to others and what I’m giving to myself.

This weekend has been a bit of a breath in the tight schedule I’ve been keeping. There have been some long conversations with my dad — some overly long — that have kept our connection. Together, we’ve worked on cleaning and fixing the deck. It’s been extremely satisfying to get that done. I’ve realized that next week is a little less busy than it has been, which should get me on track with my booktalking. And in something that qualifies as both a kick-ass thing and a nice thing I’m doing for myself, I’ve come to the conclusion that I over-prepare for these booktalks, so I’m scaling back. I’ll prepare a third fewer books and repeat them more to the different classes. It seems obvious now, but sometimes these moments of clarity come under crises.

Today I’m going to see my grandmother for her 96th birthday. Ninety-six years old, can you believe it? She’s still sharp as a tack, too. Tomorrow I’m allowing some downtime with my girls at the pool. But yes, I’ll be bringing a book. Maybe two.
Category: 2 comments

2 comments:

Kelly said...

Yay for the breather in the midst of chaos. Enjoy your weekend, MR!!

Robin Brande said...

Thanks for the shoutout. I really do hope to incite some sort of movement here (in conjunction with our pals at Seven Imp) to notice the good things and make the effort to give them to ourselves.

I heard Dr. Martha Beck (who writes the life coach column for O Magazine) say the other day that kids learn how to treat themselves by how their mothers treat themselves--rather than by how their mothers treat them. So if any of you mothers need extra incentive to take a little time out and do something nice for yourselves, there you have it.