'Tis the eve of a glorious affair - one hard earned mental health day. You heard me right - I am not going to work tomorrow, because I need to recharge. (Read: I am not going to work tomorrow, because I am afraid of punching someone or having a total melt down.)
I am very in tune with myself - with my physical health and my mental state. Lately, my 9-5 has been just...not fun. I'm a teacher and I work with kids; it should be FUN! Today, I actually thought I was going to have a panic attack. My heart started pounding in my chest and I couldn't catch my breath - all because I was frustrated with my students' behavior. I have a history of anxiety and that is how I know that I need a day to myself to do the things that reduce my stress and increase my smiley fun time.
SMILEY FUN LAUGHY TIME - ALL OF THE TIME!
As grown ups, we have these really cool but challenging choices to make - like choosing happiness above all else, like knowing when to stop, like knowing when to ask for help and when to take a break. I am choosing to listen to the little grumpy Michelle in my brain that is like, "Dude - WTF? You have to chill out." Loud and clear, sister. Loud and clear.
So - what do I plan to do with my mental health day? I'm not entirely sure yet, but I plan to do a lot of selfish, satisfying things and here are some of my ideas:
- Sleep until I wake up. No noisy alarms allowed!
- Have a big satisfying (mostly healthy) breakfast - with coffee and coffee
- Go for a long, easy run to clear my head
- Take one stressful thing off of my plate (like attacking the pile of laundry in my closet)
- Snuggle with my dog while watching a chick flick
- Read something not related to work
- Talk to both of my parents - oh hell - go see them! They're great!
- Sing loudly by myself in MY HOUSE
- Write a handwritten letter to someone to make THEM feel happy
- Paint my black toenails
- Paint something else - like real painting full of badly painted artwork
- Bake a thing
- Seriously consider a date with myself: lunch and a rom-com? Lunch and a haircut?
- Cook a beautiful healthy meal for my mister - because he should be happy too
- Go to bed early in clean sheets with a pup and a homeboy by my side
We'll see what unfolds, but I am really looking forward to taking care of this lively spirit that I have. She deserves to be happy and free. So does your lively spirit. Take care of it.
That's a long list!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of a mental health day. To me, it seems just as important as a sick day. recharging your mind is essential sometimes!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I gave your blog the Liebster Award: http://www.jensbestlife.com/2013/02/liebster-award.html It's essentially a fun way of sharing growing blogs and answering a few questions. Don't feel like you have to post about it, but if you want to, just email me for the questions to answer!
From one teacher to another: amen. Since I work after school (till 4:50 Tuesday through Thursday) Friday clubs (2:30-4:30 Fridays ) and Saturday school (9am-12pm) I feel like I often don't have a weekend. I have a big fat check with overtime pay but man this past weekend when a that was cancelled, I felt like I had an extra day off! We watched two movies, ordered Chinese, saw an awesome bluegrass band (ventured into the snow!) ran twice, walked my dog a million times, enjoyed scenery, baked coffee cake, made hue is rancheros, made a casserole, cleaned, called all family members (4 siblings and parents). Sigh. It was exactly what I needed. CHEERS TO YOU! I hope you find the enjoyment I found!
ReplyDeleteSometimes the dance parties I have alone in my house (with singing) are so absurd I even stop and laugh at myself. Your date should be lunch & a movie with a snuck-in mini bottle of wine! My fav.
ReplyDeleteHave a great day!!
Mental health days are SUPER important. I feel like I'm probably one of the luckiest girls in the world in that I can actually be honest and tell my boss that I need a mental health day, and she supports that. More places should be supportive of such things. (And my mister is a teacher - 6th grade at an elementary school. Some days I can tell how stressful it was before I even get through the door. I can only imagine how it is first hand.)
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