A Need for Peace...and Grey's Anatomy

Well my friends, I'm still in the midst of my quest to find balance and health and so far it is going very well. As of yesterday I have officially begun my full-fledged food restriction, but I basically started about a week ago. However, (between you and me) I couldn't bear the thought of not being allowed my chai tea in place of coffee so I am continuing to drink black tea against the doctor's wishes. Shhh don't tell! It feels wonderful being off sugar and I highly recommend it to everyone strong enough to try. I am still disgusted by how many foods sugar manages to sneak it's way into.

On a different note, as I have been recently reflecting on the right way to balance my life and what to prioritize, a conversation I had today with a friend lead me to realize even more the importance of "me time." Like me, this friend often has a hard time saying no to people, which leads to a full calender and hardly any time to unwind. Even if these commitments are fun social outings or events, if we continuously keep ourselves busy with activities outside of school or work, eventually we will wear ourselves thin. This is at least the truth for me and many people I know. There are super humans out there who seem to manage to do it all and still have energy and happiness to spare, but these are a very rare breed. After being out of school and in the "real world" I am amazed how quickly we can fill up the time we would have been spending on schoolwork. By the time my work day is over, all I want to do is relax, but quite often there are things to do, errands to run, people to see, and by the time I am finally done, the day is over. Does this ring a bell for anyone? Well my mission for myself and my assignment to this friend of mine and everyone else who is no-saying challenged is to read this book:

This book covers the many ways in which every person needs to set up personal boundaries in their life. I struggle with wanting to people-please all the time even if it means sacrificing important things. My mom started going through it with me and a few other girls but I never finished it. Now I am determined to pick it up again and go through it in depth.

My other assignment is to start by designating a day of the week (weekend days work best for most working people) to keep completely and absolutely clear of work, appointments or plans of any sort to unwind and refresh. This can include your own personal list of chores and errands that you haven't gotten to during the work week as long as you know you will feel so much better and ready for relaxation once they are completed. By the end of that day it is important to do something that you absolutely love that relaxes you. For me this is sometimes painting, reading, and quite often watching movies and sometimes TV. After getting used to your one "me day," try to find at least two week days where you have no plans after work other than going home and working on your own personal things and rewarding yourself with something like a glass of wine or a chapter of a good book before bed. Lately my guilty pleasure has been going through Grey's Anatomy season 6 on Netflix. Nothing relaxes me more than watching another episode of a TV show I am extremely addicted to .

I realize that putting up boundaries and making plans to have no plans is easier said than done, but it is also extremely important in our lives in order to maintain our sanity and inner peace. Remember, I am right along with you.

Now onto another episode of Grey's Anatomy...