Daylight Hour Blues

Are any of you noticing how the shortening of our day is having an affect on your moods, your motivation, your diet, your relationships? Honestly, the only reason I still get up and out the door in the dark is because back in March I was gifted the extra time from the corona virus. Ok it was that and because our puppies are super cute and get SOO excited, especially when they know it’s WALK time.

I know for myself I feel more tired even though I’m getting the same amount of sleep, my attitude is good but not as cheery as when there was constant sunshine, my relationships are good but I need to work a little harder to ensure I’ve still got energy to give them at the end of the day.

Well I had a slap of reality just recently. I’ve been coasting lately, holding on to the sides of the raft and just trying to ride out this space of feeling tired and exhausted, thinking that once we gain an hour in the morning it will change. What I forgot to acknowledge is that when I get in this space/energy of trying to juggle it all, I have a tool that I can tap into. It’s the power of communicating my needs and asking for help.

Sounds pretty simple right? Well guess what, it’s not as easy as it sounds for a lot of people. Especially when you’ve taken on the role to keep all things running smoothly. It might be a role you hold at home, at work, in your volunteer group, with your siblings you name it. Once we take on this type of role it’s really hard to get out of it. Because let’s face it, it feels good to help others. We like being needed and wanted. But what happens when you need to take a break, who helps you? Because you play the role of helping others have you given yourself permission to ask for help, or to say no to others because your plate is already full?

Sometimes it’s the littlest of things that can make our plate full, like leaving for work in the dark and returning home in the dark, the lack of sunlight, the extra demands of homeschooling or adjusting our schedules so that we can still work and meet the needs of our family, perhaps you have elder parents or family that needs your help. It could just be that you and your partner are both working longer hours and you’re simply not getting enough time together to connect like you usually do.

When this happens I have to step back, push the pause button, so that I can look at all that is happening from afar toget a better perspective. Granted it’s hard to do in the heat of the moment when people are pressing you to give them an answer or need your help right away. So the first step is to just pause and take a deep breath. By taking several deep breaths you can take yourself out of the sympathetic (fight or flight mode) and get back into the parasympathetic mode (rest and digest mode).

After taking several, deep, relaxing breaths I do a little exercise. I ask myself “how do I want to feel?” Things that usually come up are; lightness, loved, appreciated, grateful, etc. Once I’ve been able to identify how I want to feel I then think of a few easy things that make me feel this way. The que that usually pops up is to give myself permission to raise the white flag and admit that I need help and then ask for it.

For you it might be to delegate a project and let go of the fact that it will be done differently than if you did it. But by delegating the task you have given yourself extra time so that you can perhaps take a few relaxing, cleansing breaths so that you can feel clear headed and restored.

As a parent we can teach our children to do some of the things that are on our long list of things to get done, at the end of a busy day. It could be you teach them to do laundry or asking them to make their own lunches. Yes of course it’s going to feel awful, and perhaps awkward at first but it also teaches your kids other things too. It teaches your kids that life takes team work, that it’s important to ask for help when you need it, that by them learning to do these things it actually is empowering and can give them a sense of accomplishment. Yes I know, they will probably add too much detergent and forget the fabric softener to the laundry and yes there will most likely be extra jelly on the sandwich and perhaps an extra snack added. But if you provide them with nutritious options to make lunches who knows they might get creative and surprise you.

When you volunteer, sometimes organizations think that you have all the time in the world so that you can give more because of this, but it’s ok to say “No” to them so that you can say “yes” to having lunch with girlfriends. By saying no to them you are saying yes to you to do something that lights you up and cares for you. Which, let’s face it, doing this is really important especially in these times.

So instead of letting daylight blues get the best of you, take a moment, pause, take several relaxing breathes and look at your situation from a different angle. See if there is a way to pivot and change your perspective so that you can still honor yourself and do the things that you committed to.

If you feel like your plate is full and this all sounds like a great idea, but you have no idea where to begin and feel like you would need help to get there, then I invite you to check out my website by clicking HERE. Read the New BodyMind Living Magazine (if you have a chance) and sign up for a free discovery call to see if their is a way that I can help you help yourself. Because let’s face it we have one life so let’s make it our best one!