4 Reminders This Easter…..

Yes, we have a 5 day Easter long weekend! I am sure most of you have been hanging out for this break to come along, especially with the extra Anzac Day public holiday on Tuesday here in Australia.

As I am getting organised for our weekend away in Mannum, by the river, with my parents and family, I wanted to offer you a few quick reminders, so you can make the most of the extra long weekend. In our busy lives, it is important to make the most of the down time, to recover some balance and do the things that energise and sustain us.

• Don’t check your email! Turn of those push notifications on your phone, don’t be tempted to press that envelope button, leave your laptop alone. If it’s urgent (which it won’t be), they’ll ring.
• Don’t answer the phone! I know this goes against my last point but let me clarify. Firstly, if you can see who is ringing, you are expecting their call and it’s not work related, you can answer it. Otherwise, let it go to voicemail. That’s what it’s for! Usually, if something is urgent, that person will text you as well. Or they’ll ring you more than once. If you really feel the need, listen to your voicemail, but remember, this isn’t mandatory. Just because someone rings, doesn’t mean you have to get the message immediately. I find this a little easier as I grew up in the country where, shock horror, a lot of the time your mobile isn’t in range, so you can’t actually get the call. Ok, sometimes I am actually in range and use the ‘in the country’ thing as an excuse – but why can’t you too! It’s Easter – you could be anywhere – camping, hiking, meditating. I hereby give you the ‘in the country and out of range’ excuse with my blessing!
• Sleep in or take a nap! I know it is easy to find excuses such as “I can’t sleep in, I have children!” or “I can never sleep during the day!”. These facts may be so, but perhaps someone else could get up to the children one mornng, just to give you an extra hour sleep in. Maybe you can just grab a book and curl up in bed anyway, you never know, you may actually fall asleep. Extra sleep is a little luxury we all enjoy and deserve. Take your opportunity this weekend.
• Focus on one thing at a time! When playing with your kids, don’t check your email (see point above) or read the paper or prepare lunch at the same time. Take a moment to completely play with your kids. And similarly, if you are preparing dinner for the family, focus on this, revel in the cooking, perhaps with a glass of wine in hand. And when you’re taking a walk, or sitting by the river, try not to think about all the things you have left at work, or how you left the house in a mess or how you forgot to post that letter that is sitting on the hall table. Just focus on sitting or walking and smile.
• Enjoy the chocolate! For many the Easter chocolate can fill us with a sense of dread. “I just know I’m going to have put on 5 kilos this weekend!” You won’t. And who cares! The thing about enjoying the chocolate (or another treat food or drink of your choice) is, if you actually take the time to enjoy it, to savour it, you probably won’t eat as much. You will be satisfied and have had your fill. If necessary though, push the bowl of chocolate to the other side of the table so your hand doesn’t just dive in without you even realising (don’t you hate it when that happens!).

A lot of these points we know’ they’re obvious, but these reminders are for me, just as much as they are for you because event though we ‘know’ them, we often forget them or believe they aren’t applicable at this time. Although today, on Thursday, we can’t believe we have 5 days of Easter, come Wednesday, we will be wondering where the weekend went. So instead of wishing for it back on Wednesday, let’s make the most of every moment, starting now, and arrive at Wednesday happy and revitalised, possible eating one last square of chocolate with our morning cup of coffee!

I hope you all have a great weekend planned! This afternoon I am cooking in readiness for friends coming over to dinner tonight, lunch with Tim’s family on Friday and then the rest of the weekend with my family.

Enjoy!