You know that feeling โ work, family, building something for youโฆ and somehow you still end up last on the list.
Lately Iโve been learning something the hard way:
If I donโt make time for what matters to me, I lose part of myself.
And there is no need to feel guilty for making time for yourself.
Because this is your life. And the years? They pass quickly.
Last week I almost cancelled my gym membership. I only started at the end of December, and I had that familiar thought loop:
Am I using it enough?
Is it worth it?
Itโs not just the one-hour class โ itโs the time before and after too.
And then the verdict arrived, loud and judgey:
โI should cancel. I donโt have time for this. There are more important things.โ
That word: important.
As if my wants donโt count as important. Seriously.
My needs are important.
I nearly cancelledโฆ but then I stopped and asked myself:
Why doesnโt this count as important?
Why is it that when my son needs help, thatโs important?
When someone else asks for my time, thatโs important?
But when I want something โ just for me, just because it makes me happy โ itโs not?
So I went to the Pilates class again.
I laughed at the aches in my arms and legs. I enjoyed the teacherโs jokes. And I took two hours for a one-hour class.
The work waited.
And when I came home, I felt lighter. More myself. More able to show up for everything elseโฆ because Iโd shown up for me first.
Hereโs what weโre never told:
Making time for yourself isnโt selfish. Itโs how you stay whole.
When you only ever give โ when you never refill โ you donโt become some saintly superwoman.
You become depleted.
Resentful.
Disconnected from who you are.
You become someone who exists only in relation to other peopleโs needs.
And thatโs not sustainable. Itโs not even kind โ to them or to you.
Making time for what matters to you isnโt taking away from anyone else.
Itโs making sure youโre still you when you look in the mirror.
A woman with interests. Wants. Preferences.
A life beyond being useful.
Maybe youโve been doing what I almost did:
Cancelling the things that matter to you because they feel โless importantโ than everything else.
Telling yourself youโll get to it later. Someday. When thereโs more time.
Exceptโฆ thereโs never more time.
Thereโs just now.
And the choice to make time for yourself.
This weekโs practice
Block one hour this week for something you want.
Not something productive.
Not something for someone else.
Just something that matters to you.
- Read a book just for pleasure
- Go somewhere youโve wanted to go
- Spend time on a hobby youโve been ignoring
- Do absolutely nothing and call it rest
Make the time. Protect it.
Because you, my friend, are worthy of your own time and attention.