Last Monday I wrote a post that became one I needed to read and today I’m doing the same thing.
When I was in college I had a teacher who hated the word “interesting.” He hated it so much that we were told we were absolutely not to use it in any of our essays. When asked why he hated it so much, he said it’s because it was overused and had lost its meaning.
It totally made sense once he explained it and I realized how much I use it while taking his class. And I still use “interesting” waaaay too much. I think of him every time I do. But I still thought his feelings about the word were a little strong… I thought he might be exaggerating a little when he said he hated that word.
And he may have been exaggerating, however I also totally get it now. There are words that I don’t like. I guess I won’t say I hate them; I mean, hate seems like a strong word to use for anything. But there are some words that I dislike so much that I kind of bristle when I hear them. Journey is one. I mentioned that one to my pastor once and the next time he caught himself using it he stopped and found another word. š (And I didn’t talk to him about it in a “you use this word too much” kinda way… it just came up in conversation.)
Another word is hustle. I don’t think this word has lost its meaning from overuse, but I think it’s becoming idolized. We all want to hustle. And I think everyone will acknowledge that we need to take time to rest, too, but since we talk so much about the hustle, that’s what sticks in our minds.
I believe in working hard and getting shit done, but I also believe we need to have a balance. If we don’t take time for ourselves to rest, if we don’t take time to spend with our family and friends, if all we do is hustle, we won’t be able to hustle effectively.
I say this because even though I hate the word “hustle” I totally get caught up in it from time to time. And lately, I’ve been trying to do all the things while being almost constantly on the go. Basically, I’ve been hustling too much. And I need to allow myself to take a break and find the balance that I believe should be part of the hustle.
All of this is to say that in October I’m giving myself permission to take breaks when needed. I will spend time with friends and family and if that means I don’t get a blog post written, that’s okay. I will work on finding my balance with writing fiction again and enjoy the process instead of pushing for a certain goal. I will make sure I get the rest I need so that when I write a blog post or work on a story my tiredness doesn’t seep into my writing.
My goal is to make sure I update at least twice a week this month, but there’s one week that I know I’ll be pretty busy so I’m not going to push to make it happen. And you might even see three posts a week, I just don’t want to push to have them written. I want to have a good balance.
I’m giving myself permission to find that balance and I wanted to share this with you in case you need permission to find balance again too.
love this so much! So important for those that “never stop” (like me) Great perspective!
I’m that way too! I don’t want to stop, but I’m definitely realizing that I need to.
Taking breaks is completely okay! It’s def needed at times. I would stress at times when i did not get a new post written. Now I am like if it gets written, then it gets done. I found that I stress over too many things. So finding balance is a great thing.
Exactly! I always feel so guilty if the blog post doesn’t get written and I need to let go that guilt.
Balance is so important! Burnout is the last thing I want to deal with!
Exactly! It’s so easy to get caught up in things, but getting caught up without taking a break just means burnout in the future.
Let me give you additional permission to take all of the break that you need this month and whenever you need it. I like to remind people that balance is something we must work at everyday because it isn’t a static state. Somedays we need more than others. Wishing you a fantastic October. Also – I have some words that drive me crazy too!
Thank you, Sheryl! It truly is important to find balance and sometimes I have a hard time remembering that. I like to work, work, work, but also need to take breaks. š And I’m also glad to hear that there are words that drive you crazy, too! My prof and I aren’t the only ones.