Stop! Make Plans NOT to Have Plans

I’m not sure about you, but it seems like I always have my sights set on the upcoming weekend. It isn’t that I don’t have a number of activities during the week to look forward to, it’s just that the weekend always holds the promise of no “work” and getting some good old R&R in. However, once the weekend actually gets here, it is usually jammed packed with even more things to do, places to go and people to see so the dream of rest and relaxation are generally extinguished before Saturday morning ever arrives. Sound familiar?

Well, this weekend I actually took a day off. Friday night my husband and our children drove a couple of hours to meet relatives for lunch and do a little shopping. On Saturday, we had plans to get up and take my husband and our oldest son to get a haircut, wash the car and clean the house before meeting friends for dinner and entertaining them at our house afterwards. Well, the car wash wasn’t open because it was too cold and cleaning took up more time than we thought it would, so we didn’t have time for haircuts. However, we did have a good time at dinner and entertaining afterwards with our friends.

But, before we knew it, Sunday was here! Seriously, WHAT happened to the weekend? On Sunday morning we got up and got ready for church. Normally, we will hurriedly eat a bowl of cereal before heading out the door for church, but I decided that I didn’t care if we were a little late, we were having a “traditional” breakfast at the table together. So I prepared eggs, bacon and toast for breakfast.

On the drive to church I received a text from my workout buddy asking me if I wanted to go work out that afternoon. Honestly, I did want to work out because I hadn’t been to the gym since Thursday, but I knew that the afternoon would go by fast after church and I was tired of running all over the place. I wanted to spend the afternoon at home with my family. So, I declined. After church we went and ate pizza with friends for lunch and then headed home.

We actually spent the rest of the afternoon (and evening) together at the house. So, what’s the point of this blog post? I know you don’t really care about how I spend my weekend, but the point is that I made a point to clear my afternoon on Sunday (after church) to ensure I could be at home with my family…getting that much needed rest and relaxation. Sure, I didn’t get to work out, my son still needs a haircut and I still need to go to the grocery store, but, here I sit on Monday morning feeling more refreshed and rested than I’ve felt in a long time.

Sometimes we just need to take a break and the weekends are our only time to do it. So, why do we overbook these two days? It’s Monday, you have four days until the weekend is here…make plans right now NOT to have plans on one of those two days. Slow down and enjoy life with your family. If you continue to rush through life trying to make appointment after appointment, you’re going to wake up old and gray wondering where the years went…so slow down!