Well…I did it. I’ve somehow managed to run myself into the ground. I shouldn’t say, “somehow.” I know exactly how this happened. I’ve spread myself way too thin…as in, if I was pizza dough, I’d be starting to tear in certain places. That kind of thin. I’ve said, “yes,” to everything, crammed my schedule to the point of running out of space in my planner, put work before my personal well-being, eaten dinner in my car while driving from appointment to appointment, neglected to spend quality time with David, and well, quite frankly, enough is enough.

It took a very hard-hitting talk by Melissa Miller this past weekend at the Women’s Retreat and several days of reflection for me to realize that my current lifestyle just isn’t sustainable. At least not if I’m trying to stay out of the psych ward.

One of my biggest take-aways from Melissa’s talk was actually a quote she referenced by Stephen Covey, in which he said, “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” This makes sense to me in such a literal way, particularly because I keep a day planner that includes everything from meetings and appointments to chores and errands, but has little to no mention of time for myself. Which ultimately shows me that I don’t make my health, physical, emotional, mental, what have you, a priority.

You see, my problem is that I’m a big-time people-pleaser. It’s really hard for me to say, “no,” to things, especially good things because I have an irrational fear of being perceived as lazy or apathetic. But at a certain point, I have to realize that I’m not going to be able to give my best to each area of my life if I’m trying to do seven million things at once. (I think it’s clear now, based on my recent posts, that I wake up every morning thinking I’m Superwoman. Where does this belief come from?!) I’m ultimately setting myself up for failure. And I don’t do failure well!

So right here and right now, this is me making a public declaration that I’m going to try to slow my life down a bit. I’m going to practice saying, “no,” to things, even when it’s hard. I’m going to take walks on the beach with David (That’s a thing, right?) and just enjoy time with him.  I’m going to eat my meals at the table, which is coincidentally named a “dining table” and not in my car, like some  deranged savage. I’m going to unplug for a few hours every now and then and simply do nothing.

But I know myself and I know that this is going to be a huge challenge for me, so I’m going to need accountability. That’s where YOU come in. And what are friends for, if not to tell you when you’ve  gone off the deep-end into CrazyTown? But seriously, I hope you guys will not be afraid to tell me when you think I’ve got too much on my plate.  You will be able to tell by asking yourself a few simple questions: Does your Chelsea frequently forget how to use words to formulate coherent sentences? Did your Chelsea try to unlock her apartment door using her car clicker? Did your Chelsea mention she was just going to go ‘pop some toasters in the waffle’? If you answer, “yes,” to one or more of these questions, please 1. do not allow your Chelsea to operate heavy machinery, 2. put her into bed, 3. slap her in the face and tell her to slow down. No, but seriously…

Thanks for reading and for being great friends!