Here's a hard topic! Balancing work and play in your daily life. Both are so important. In my short 24 years of life, I have learned how important it is to make sure I work just as hard as I play. It's true that time is on our side, but we must be intentional with how we spend our precious time. We can benefit from applying value to the hours in our day so that we can live a life of fulfillment and happiness. Growing up, I've always had tremendous support and help from friends and family to motivate me and hold me accountable, and I'm so grateful for that. But now that I am in a new state living more independently and after years of trial and error experiences (ha!) I can definitely say that I am much more responsible and have learned more about self-discipline. A daily yoga practice and following a vegan lifestyle have taught me so much about self-discipline. I've learned about how to embrace more growth by making the choice to cut down on toxins in my life, including those relationships, jobs, foods and environments that don't promote my growth. 

Work

            A lot of hard inner-work including meditation, journaling, studying and researching, blogging and creating goes in to my "work" category, and I must consciously carve out time for this. Another important part of my "work" category is my job. Doing my best at whatever job is at hand is important because I believe in the significance of integrity and being productive when I am apart of a team serving the community. Other work that I am constantly growing in and practicing includes grocery shopping, meal-prepping, organizing, planning ahead and scheduling. I once got advice from a former manager that is simple and probably heard in all types of work places, but he told me that no matter what it is I am doing, make sure to do my personal best and give my best efforts. He told me don't take on so much work that you become lazy in your work, overwhelmed, stressed and given no time to relax. He's so right! We need to continuously evaluate how we feel physically and emotionally especially when it comes to our work. A good start is to maybe write down and categorize your difference aspects that make up your "work" life. If your work is stripping you of energy and light it's time to learn more about balance! This is where the "play" category comes in. 

Play

        We all enjoy our free time in many different ways. No matter what your "play" is, make sure it is still productive towards your goals and values. Be conscious of your boundaries, but learn to enjoy yourself during play and find your inner child. For me, I consider exercise to be a type of play. Right now, this includes a slew of fun activities like yoga, walking, hiking, swimming, rock climbing or doing calisthenics on my mat at home. I think it's important to factor in quality social time to your "play" category. I like to attend new yoga classes or Meet-Ups around town, as well as see live music, go somewhere new with my boyfriend, and in general finding a way to spend time outside. Remember that quality time with yourself is a type of play, and that means just truly enjoying your life and being contented in your heart having alone time and down time, maybe reading a book, mixing your own essential oil blends, or coloring in a calming art book for adults! Another form of play comes to mind when we consider enjoying time with a significant other. Always make time for you and your lover to really feel gratitude for time spent with one another and make this time quality for the promotion of a healthy relationship. Incorporating play relaxes and opens our hearts and minds and promotes productivity later. Anything you do that feels like an easy creative flow is something considered play and helps your heart and mind!

           Going over some of my healthy life habits for balancing work and play I realize that I do a pretty great job in some areas, and in others I could improve upon. The point is to evaluate, accept and embrace where you are right now, and then always be growing and learning, working toward becoming your highest self. I hope this post has brought upon some inspiration to look within and reflect on how you may balance work and play in your daily life. Let's create awareness on this topic throughout the rest of the day and notice later how it is such a huge part of our life. Never hesitate to comment below, email me or find me on social media to chat more on this topic! Let me know if this helped you create an intention for the day or a journal exercise was manifested.

Happy Monday! Love to you all.

Madelene - Make with Madelene