Make Over Your Mornings – Day 4 Blog Along

Image from makeoveryourmornings.com

Good morning! If you’ve been with us from Day 1, welcome back! I’m so proud of you for continuing on! If you haven’t snagged a copy yet, it’s not too late to get yours and join us! Head on over to Make Over Your Mornings to get yours now. The workbook that comes with it is invaluable – not to mention the personal videos you get to watch each day featuring Money Saving Mom‘s very own Crystal Paine. You can find Day 1’s Blog Along post here to catch up. And if you’re looking for a testimony to how wonderful this program works, you can find mine here.

Have your copy and ready to start changing your life? LET’S GO!

How many of us tend to push ourselves to the back burner so that being a parent, or a spouse, or a dedicated employee is front and center? I know I certainly did that for many years, and it became to the point that I wasn’t even on the back burner, I had moved myself clear off the stove. I justified it with the excuse that I’m a mom and wife and between those two things, I just don’t have time to be a little bit selfish.

The problem with that point of view, however, is that it was burning me out by both ends of the wick. Through this course, I have learned that I can give so much more of myself when I just take a little time for me. I know that sounds crazy. How could I possibly give more when I’m giving less time? It’s because the quality of time that I give after refueling my own soul is so much more valuable and makes a bigger impact than when I’m giving on empty.

This lesson was one I struggled with. My husband has been on me for years to just take a little time for myself – to stop worrying about the guilty feeling of not thinking of everyone else every second of every day and leaving no room to think of me. I struggled with the guilt – even when the time I was taking was when the rest of the house was in bed! I thought surely I should be spending that time focusing on things that directly impact them, not me. I’ll admit, there are still times when I struggle with the guilt of taking a few minutes for me. But then, I remind myself that this refueling is not only going to benefit me but also my family. If you’re anything like me and are conflicted with those feelings of guilt, trust me when I say that filling yourself up is the best thing you can do for your family. It was a perfect reminder when Crystal said,

“Motherhood is not an excuse to stop taking time for things you love.”

One of the things I love to do most is to read. I’ve been a bookworm as far back as I can remember. For me, there’s nothing like getting lost in a story. But, I could never seem to find the time to read without doing it in the middle of the night and everybody paying for it the next day because of my grumpy, tired mood. Because my days are so much more intentional and productive now thanks to this course, and because I now know the importance of taking time for myself, I find other times to get my reading in that don’t punish anyone. So, when I read is in the evening after the kids are in bed and I’ve finished planning my following day. That gives me from about 8:10 to 9:50 at night to do something for myself.

That time slot isn’t reserved just for reading books. I also love to catch up on my DVR shows. There’s nothing like knowing I can sit down and watch Project Runway without feeling a twinge of guilt. Because my days are so much more intentional, it also means I can enjoy my free time even more.

The mornings before everyone wakes is also the time I look forward to. This is my time for personal and professional productivity. It’s my time to spend with God during my daily devotional. It’s the time when I get to focus on growing a business between blogging and working on new products for the shop so that I can contribute financially to our family. It’s even the time when I get to take a shower without interruptions! That, my friends, is an amazing feeling!

With tomorrow being Saturday, this lesson falls perfectly in line. When I went through this course this past summer, I got through the first week and decided I would let Saturday and Sunday be free days and come back to the course on Monday. After all, weekends are for nothing if not sleeping in, right? Saturday morning came, and by the time my alarm went off, not only was I waking up, but so were the children. I was instantly grouchy. I stood in the bathroom brushing my teeth trying to figure out just why it was that I was in such a bad mood, and then it hit me. I had spent the last five days getting up and having almost two full hours to myself every morning. That is something I’ve never had, even when I was growing up. (I’ve always been the late riser of the family!) In just those five days, I had grown to crave that time in the morning. It became the motivator for getting me out of bed at a time I would only dream of waking if there were a fire or some other emergency forcing me to get up. Needless to say, I was up Sunday before everyone else.

Having that reserved time for yourself – whether you’re a night owl or an early bird – can really set your day and your mindset on the right course. With that being said, I will continue the Blog Along Saturday and Sunday. I encourage you to continue following your routine this weekend and see what a difference it makes! It will also make getting up Monday morning that much easier!

I’ll be back here tomorrow with my experiences and thoughts from Day Five! And don’t forget, if you still haven’t gotten your hands on a copy of the Make Over Your Mornings e-course, you can do that here.

What are things you can do to fill up your soul, mind or spirit? I’d love to hear what your motivators are for doing your routine whether that’s early in the morning or another time during the day!