My journey to take time for me and take care of me was a great success. Although, that is not the way it was planned out before Christmas!
I had 4 different classes planned to teach starting the first couple weeks of January. Two Zumbatomic classes at the school, two Zumba fitness classes during the week, one mixed Zumbatomic/Yoga class with a friend, and a Healthy Edge class!!! Doesn’t sound very relaxing does it?
When I started realizing during the Christmas holidays the craziness that I was about to create I literally started to panic! How in the world was I creating a sane place for me and my family?
During the second week of January, once most of my kids were back in school I reanalyzed my situation and got to work at simplifying :) The wonderful thing was that I know someone out there was listening to my plea of simplicity because things really started to fall into place quickly!
The first was when I simply came out and told two of my partners that I was maxed out and I needed time to recuperate. Sandra Michaud and I were to open a class to parents and their children for dance and yoga, Tuesday mornings at a studio 25 minutes from here. We hadn’t had the response we needed so we were able to put it on the shelf for another time. It will happen, because I think we make a great team, but it will be when the time is right!
I had contacted my Healthy Edge partner during the same week, first through email and then a call. I knew as soon as I started speaking to her that she was just as overwhelmed as I was! Diane is a pharmacist and had been sick for most of the holidays. She was not ready to get to classes just yet either! Again, the class will happen when we are both ready!
My next class to be changed was at the school. I was relieved to hear that they didn’t want me to start teaching the Zumbatomic classes until after the March break so that it could be a 12 week continuous class. Whew!
I was still trying to work out a lunchtime Zumba fitness class with the Board of Education. This was a class that I was personally contacted for so I felt even more "obliged" to make it work. Problem was, for two weeks after the holidays I almost always had a sick kid at home!
After trying to schedule time to go and see the organizer, and not being very successful, she called me to ask if I was still interested. She had found a name at the local gym offering classes and was wondering if I would mind if she called the instructor. Oddly enough, I was thinking of suggesting the same thing!!! I was thrilled and relieved all at once! My schedule had been toned down immensely for January and February with barely any effort at all! And I gave someone else a teaching opportunity!
Call it what you want, but I know this time was handed to me because I asked for it. I could have busted my butt to continue other classes, but I am glad I didn't! The people who were working with me were as much in need of a break as I was and it worked out for everyone! Have you ever just kept on doing the same thing like a hamster in a wheel and been so absolutely exhausted that you weren't really moving ahead? Usually what would happen in that case is meltdown city! Been there done that!
In my future blogs I will be talking more about what I have learned so far along this journey. How sleep and weight loss go hand in hand. How stress and weight gain also go hand in hand. How detoxing the liver is just as important as letting the mind escape from reality every once in while.
I am loving my journey. It has given me the extra time to think about the future and how I am going to make my dreams happen! I am so grateful to have this time opportunity to think about myself a little more and start to get things back on track :)
Blessings
Lee-Anne
Matthew 6:33 (NIV)
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
