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Challenge: Taking Care of YOU

Falling asleep on the couch before 10 pm is a sign of intelligence.

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Falling asleep on the couch before 10 pm is a sign of intelligence.

So says me, because, well, for the past two evenings I have done just that.

Cue the overthinkers.

NO, I am NOT pregnant.

But, both nights I did consume fourth meal about thirty minutes before nodding off and I do think my food baby was depleting me of energy.

The energy I needed to write during my only real “free time” each day.

The energy I needed to fold and put away the laundry that forever resides and wrinkles on our eat-in kitchen table.

The energy I needed to connect with my husband, without distraction or kid interruption.

The energy I needed to do the dirty dishes from the evening's dinner.

The energy I needed to shave my legs, paint my toenails, do a face mask or bathe in tub spiked with lavender.

The energy I needed to snuggle with my pups or take them for an evening walk.

The energy I needed to lose myself in a fiction book.

The energy I needed to do a few crunches to work on my mom pooch.

The energy I needed to meditate on the day's lessons and stress over all that has to get done tomorrow and throughout the week.

Sure, it could have been my late-night consumption of a dozen peanut butter-topped, gluten-free cookies, or the mental and physical weight of motherhood bearing down, but I'd rather hold tight to the notion that falling asleep on the couch before 10 pm is a fortunate sign of brilliance.

Because the wise know that what is vital at the end of each day is rest.

You may think it's quite the opposite, but slowing down, resting, napping and sleeping are all an investment in yourself, your children, and your passions because it is only when our energy has time to replenish that it can be used, in full, to chase a better version of ourselves, foster stronger connections with our loved ones and aid in the advancement our passions.

So says me.

In the name of a one tired mother...

AMEN.

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