I just returned from the beach.

After a busy morning that was filled with answering more emails than I even knew was possible and figuring out all sorts of administrative things for my business, I could feel my energy leaving my body very quickly. It was the kind of day where it seemed like I was putting out one mini fire after the next, and I needed a break.

Thankfully, I now have the perfect solution for times like these: head to the beach. 

So I bundled up, and within minutes was in the middle of the beautiful haven that you see in the photo.

Ahhhh….I could immediately breathe again. I wasn’t thinking about work or emails or figurative fires or anything that needed to be done or anyone who needed something from me or anything at all. I was simply THERE. Taking it in. Immersing myself in the ocean’s energy. And it felt wonderful. amazing. full. loving. perfect. 

I walked around, picked up shells (including the amazing one in the photo), watched the waves come in and out, enjoyed birds who were playing in the water. Each moment at the beach brought me closer to myself – to my soul.

I am not my work. My work is a part of me, but it is certainly not all of me.

Sometimes I forget that.

It’s become such a habit for me to hunker down and futilely attempt to get through the never-ending work pile – no matter how long it takes or no matter what cost the stress and pushing has on my own wellbeing. For so many years, I’ve had the mindset of just doing it and getting it done and finishing and checking it all off and writing back quickly and being as perfect as I could along the way.

Well, that is all a part of my past that I am choosing to not bring into my present and certainly not into my future. 

I get to choose. 

I forget that sometimes. 

I don’t have to push and push and push. 

I want to feel good. I want to honor my own needs. I want to be filled with vitality. I want my heart and soul to be full again. 

That’s what I get from the ocean. That’s how I feel at the ocean. And that’s why my soul asked me so emphatically to come to the ocean. It was time to welcome my entire self back home again – the part that had been missing for so many years. I’m just no longer okay with allowing this part of myself who just wants to be liked and be good and be perfect and be successful continue to run the show – continue to get all of the air time. I’m finding that all of these things are no longer nearly as important to me and are fading away more and more each day – being replaced by something much fuller and much more sustainable.

My own happiness matters.

I see that now. 

And so this means that I will take more breaks, and I will go to the beach. Even if (especially if) my work plate is overflowing and it doesn’t seem like a good idea. 

Because when I am there, I remember who I am. And that is the biggest gift that I could ever give to myself and also to anyone else. Me. All of me. Not the resentful, exhausted, depleted, overworked, overwhelmed part. But the loving, full, balanced, joyful, and energized part.

That’s who I want to offer to myself and to the world.

And it all starts with choosing to step away for however long it takes. It starts with setting boundaries and remembering how important it is to give myself time and space to recharge.

So that’s what I’m doing.

It most likely will mean that I won’t be responding to emails as promptly as I would like. It most likely will mean that I won’t be sending as many newsletters out as I had planned on. It most likely will mean that I won’t be interacting on social media as much as I have in the past.

But it will definitely mean that when I do respond and when I am there, I will be much more present, full, and happy. And isn’t that all we want for ourselves and for each other? To really enjoy our lives and to really be able to embrace them?

I think so.

I would love for each of us to make more space for what matters most: ourselves. I would love for each of us to give ourselves permission to step away in whatever way feels best for us for whatever amount of time helps us come home to ourselves again. It matters. We matter. So, so much.

Hugs,