Running too fast

I’ve been struggling to maintain my exercise – or really any activity at all – these last few weeks. The baby-work-cooking-shopping-household routine is wearing me out. It’s nothing new. Everybody can relate to a life that only gets busier when exercise is added in. Now, I realize I must set clearer priorities. Spending time with my family IS a priority, but folding the laundry is not. Sure, it needs to get done and I’m not going to refuse to fold a shirt. But I’ve always worked to get EVERYTHING done – tied up all the loose ends, tidied the house and organized my desk -- before I do the things that are for me. It’s almost cliche, but I’m learning that I need to take care of myself so that I have some fuel left for the things that do matter most. And taking care of me, means exercise – not at the end of the day when I’m drained, not in the few moments when I can fit it in. I’m realizing now, more than ever I’ve got to fit it in first. That could mean some early morning walks, which I started and quit early this winter when the dark and the cold got to me. So, with the weather warming and sun rising before I do, I need to make myself a priority and exercise is a part of that. I’m going to give more to myself, so that I have more to give.