'Sorry officer...'

Valentine's Day has never been an ideal holiday for me. After growing up working in a restaurant, I have always worked and waited on served lovely couples their romantic dinner together! This year was no different, although I now work in Albany, I was called to work at the restaurant in Syracuse because they just opened an addition and were short staffed. So I decided I could strap my cape on that day and play Superwoman. I woke up extra early to make my Valentine breakfast only to rush into work late and leave early.  Speeding down the throughway I made it just in time for my shift at the restaurant. After a two hour drive, I decided to quickly gulp down some espresso shots before my station would fill up with happy couples. The busy night didn't end much before midnight, putting me in bed by 2am. With only 3hours of sleep under my belt, I was very angry when 5am came and I had to get back in my car and make the trip back to Albany just to make it to work on time. Exhausted from the very eventful evening, it took me a while to get out of bed. My mother was reminded at how hard it was to wake me up in high school!

After 3 large cups of coffee, I made the long haul back to the 518. Running late as usual, I was trying to make it in a record time! Flying with my Superwoman cape on, I almost hadn't noticed the police officer tailing behind me with his sirens blaring and his lights flashing. I was immediately mad at myself for not paying more attention to my speedometer, I didn't even realize how fast I was going. When he came and tapped on my window, I didn't even know what to say but to give him my sob story. I was hoping he would feel bad for a little Liverpool princess like myself having to work on such a romantic holiday! He must have a heart because he did not give me a speeding ticket (how fast I was going I will not say) however, when he ran my license and registration he realized my car was not inspected. With all of the hustle and bustle of my life, I had completely forgot to get my car inspected, which my father so politely reminded me of about a month ago! For some reason I was able to get away with speeding but an un-ispected car is not dismissible.

Upon returning to Albany, I had already started my day on the wrong foot and was only irritated the rest of the day. I ignored some fatigue signs and completely dismissed the headache and sore throat.  After re-doing our Valentine's Day, soon enough it was almost 2am again and I felt that all I had done was run around the past 24hours. I should have picked up on some warning signs that I needed to slow down but it wasn't until 7am the following morning when my head was in a toilet bowl thanks to the flu, that I didn't realize how bad I needed to take a break! Now working three jobs, having an active social life, visiting friends and family on the weekend and trying to find time for myself in between gets exhausting! It's hard to take a step back and realize how much of life we miss! I came to this epifany that I need to start worrying about myself more. I need to take a step back and remind myself what it is I need instead of what my roommates want or that my boss needs help staffing for Valentine's day. I know too often that I have put others before myself and now I need to take care of myself. I think that too many of us do this as well. We get caught up in the day to day activities that we almost lose ourselves.

So this morning when I was abruptly woken up by my violent cough, I decided that the only way to kick this flu was to care for myself more. I promised myself that even with everything going on in the day that I am going to make more time for myself. I used to read almost every night before bed and I would like to get back to that because that was at least an hour to myself that I could escape from the world and just dive into a great read! The time we spend with ourselves and our own thoughts is one of the most important parts of the day and I think we all need to do more of that. I also notice that even when I get an hour to myself I am in a much better mood! So give it a try, spend at least an hour out of every day to yourself, rather it be running, working out, reading, painting, scrap booking, cooking or even just sitting quietly. Collecting your thoughts and compartmentalizing your day in your head will make the day a lot less stressful and you will feel a lot better! If your schedule is as busy as mine, wake up an hour earlier while the world is still asleep and take advantage of the quietness! These are the times we take for granted!