31 Days to Becoming Less Stressed, More Refreshed. Day 6: Pace Yourself

 

…let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
Hebrews 12:1

Imagine you were running a 10 mile marathon. For the first mile, you sprinted and gave it your all, and by the time you got to the second mile, you could barely run. That’s not really the way to run the marathon; is it?

If you are going to run 10 miles, you have to pace yourself. You have to run at a good speed, knowing you have a long distance ahead of you.

Life is like a marathon. We need to pace ourselves so we can run through the day, week, month or years.

If you wake up in the morning and run around like a chicken with your head cut off, you probably aren’t going to have enough stamina to make it through the day.

You will feel the stress of pushing yourself too hard and running on empty. In a matter of time, the stress will hit you hard and you will feel its impact on your life. You will be exhausted and depleted.

There are mornings when I wake up feeling the weight of all that is on my schedule for the day. If I can focus on the present moment and pace myself, keeping myself calm and distributing my energies well, I feel much better. I avoid that frantic, rush-around feeling and feel much more composed.

How can you pace yourself?

• Create a reasonable To Do list.
• Realize your To Do list may not be fully completed.
• Keep your priorities in mind.
• Work with a mindset of productivity, working at a steady pace throughout the day.
• Avoid rushing and escalating situations.

When we pace ourselves we can avoid feeling frenzied or fatigued and work to conserve energy so we may live our days wisely.

Take Action: Try to pace yourself today. Live well and be content with the amount of work you complete.