The “stop doing list” has come up quite a few times recently, and while it makes sense, it can be a very difficult concept. This might be the most beneficial part of my sabbatical. As I prepare to come back to work, I have marked several things off my “to do” list, and feel very accomplished. I have spent time with friends and family, I have gotten back out into the community, and I have helped those in need in our community. But I have also worked on my “stop doing list”.
In our society, we tend to go, go, go. In the beginning, I mentioned that I am not the best at resting. So, at some point in the evening, I have to just stop, and sit down. While reading “Losing Control and Liking It” it talks about the what if’s, and how you don’t have control over them. This just creates more stress. I have to let go of the what if’s and put them on my stop doing list, this frees up time and stress. This book also brought my attention to perfection and it’s need for it to be on my list. This can go so far, from Emily wanting to fix her own hair to the girls picking out their clothes.
Will and I took the girls to the San Antonio Zoo this weekend. When asking the girls which animal was their favorite, we were reminded that they are two completely different people. Emily’s favorite animal was the bats. Sarah, on the other hand loved the giraffes. While this sounds cute, we actually missed the giraffes and didn’t walk all the way back to find them. She procee to tell us how she played with them, rode on their backs, and laughed together.
Emily’s favorite part of going out of town is not the destination, while she did love the bats at the zoo, but the hotel. I found a hotel with an indoor pool so we could go swimming after the zoo. The water was a little chilly for my taste, but the girls had a blast. The girls might kill me when they’re older, but the picture below shows how wore out they were from our fun day! I did put Sarah back in the bed fully, just had to get the picture first, like any good mom 😊.
This month has allowed me to accomplish so much, but my favorite part was the time I had to devote to building memories with my family. See you all tomorrow!
