If you want your phone to work at full capacity you ensure you charge that bad boy overnight and during the day… How are you recharging yourself? Sleep, food and physical activities are obviously key elements. What about your personal self? What about the extras you need beyond the normal needs of survival?

When you see a person that is single, kids and most teens it appears they are like the energizer bunny with all the energy in the world! They are flying solo and have only themselves to make happy, without trying to please others. Sometimes when we get into friendships, relationships or jobs we forget to recharge ourselves before we pour all of our energy into the ones we love or our other priorities.

I love my work, friends, family, son and boyfriend beyond words! Sometimes I find myself completely drained and unable to recharge myself. Over the years I’ve learned ways to take the time to pour into my own cup. Scheduling a few days a month to pamper me for an hour here and there each day. Hair, nails, wax, coffee with me, lunch with me, stroll through the park with me, read a book or art not work related, but for me!

I love audible, as I spend a lot of time in a car or working on jobs I can wear headphones and just listen. One of my recent ones talked about recharging our own batteries. I took a five hour drive to regroup with my thoughts to see my boyfriend. As I was dropping my boyfriend off at the airport for three months away. Normally, I’m a big cryer. Crying helps me express all the emotions from happy, sad, mad, hurt, proud, etc… A week before he left I took a whole day to feel bad for me, cry about how happy I am with him, how sad that he’s leaving for an extended period, how happy I was to get super focused on work and preparing myself to recharge. When I dropped him off at the airport for the first time I had no tears. Only smiles and kisses.

Taking three months apart gives us the time to take a step back, and be our solo selves with time apart. For him he jumps right to work so I have to be understanding that his break away is totally different. Before he leaves for work and when he comes home he’s mentally preparing for the whirlwind of responsibilities and people he has to handle, support and nurture. He has NO down time so as much as I want to smother him to squeeze out every second I have. I have to remember to try and let him have his space to recharge too.

For you to recharge, you should even carve out time away from the things you love, sometimes to appreciate them more. Even if it’s a 15 minute walk alone some days. As a parent you hear, it’s not that easy, I have kids relying on me. Especially, as a parent you need time to be away and remember who you are. You need to learn to love and respect yourself first!

It’s good to understand and maintain a healthy singular “Me, myself and I” within the “we and us” of relationships and friendships.