Blog Challenge #16: Weekends are for resting, right?

Many of you know that I have a day job in addition to the agency duties which means I tend to work 75-80 hours per week, Monday-Friday. When I started agenting, I would spend my weekends doing agency work that would leave me exhausted and groggy since I lived on coffee and sandwiches for the most part. Hubby would take the kids out on the weekends to get them out of my hair but that just meant more work for me since the housework didn't get done without them home to do it. I realized rather quickly that I needed to establish a better work-life balance or I would work myself into an early grave. Two cancer scares later, and a fortieth birthday milestone achieved, I decided to take back my weekends. I still "work" a little on the weekends, but it's only reading and revising manuscripts. I spend time with my family, clean the house on Saturdays and, as I did this morning, spend a little time pinning things on Pinterest, playing Candy Crush (OMG, it's so addicting) and meditating. 

Photo Courtesy: Public Domain

Yes, I've started meditating. It's something Kele Moon told me to do ages ago and I just kept putting it off. Mainly because I didn't really know how to do it. I didn't want to just spend time sitting cross-legged on the floor, eyes closed, doing "ohms" and picturing myself looking silly. (Not that, that's what she told me to do, it's just what my very silly mind kept picturing when I heard the word meditation.) Thing is, I've learned that mediation is a very personal thing. What works for one person may not work for another. My meditation may sound odd to you but it's what works for me. So what does meditation look like for me?

Well, I start with reading a Bible passage. I have a few meditation books with affirmations and things like that but I really enjoy reading the Bible and tying a verse to a thought that I can release into the Universe is soothing for me. Today's verse was Ecclesiastes 1:3, "What does man gain from all his labor in which he labors under the sun?" I read my Bible in Spanish in the KJV version and in Spanish, the word labor is translated into an equivalent of "work"so the text really spoke to me. I concentrated on what profit I have in all of my work. Not just monetary profit, but profit for future generations, a legacy. What legacy am I leaving by all the work? What do I have to show for it and is it something I'm giving back to the Universe or something I'm selfishly keeping? Then I prayed. Just a simple prayer, nothing fancy. Asking for guidance and to be led to that work which will be fruitful to my legacy. I concentrated on what I want for my children and their children, what I want to be remembered by and what I want my work to mean in the future. Then I sipped my coffee and went on my merry way. It was my moment of rest, relaxation and most importantly, revitalization of spirit. I need to make this a daily habit.

Do I still work on the weekends? Of course, I do but I don't let it consume my day. Unless, it's a blog post, these suckers do take up a bunch of time to think through and post, I tell ya!