“Just because you’ve hatched, doesn’t mean you’re ready to jump out of the nest.”
As soon as I heard that statement, I laughed out loud … in church. Luckily, our church has a less formal format so the occasional laugh isn’t frowned on. Just the thought of a little bird being born, looking around and then jumping out of the next sounds crazy! But that wasn’t why I was laughing. The point he was making was that we often run ahead of where we are supposed to be, like baby birds jumping out of our nests too soon. We need to wait until our wings are ready. We need to wait. We need to value rest. That was exactly what I needed to hear.
So why was I laughing? Let me explain …
Cracking Eggs and Learning to Tweet
I am a very passionate person. If I find something I like, I will tell everyone I know. I’m seriously one of the best brand advocates you can have for that reason alone. Just ask my husband. With every new job or client I have, I quickly fall in love with them and tout all their glorious attributes: Chick-fil-A has the BEST chicken EVER. Panera Bread’s Acai tea is AMAZING and did you know it doesn’t have any sugar? The chiropractic industry is completely under-appreciated and it’s going to revolutionize the healthcare industry! Paleo is the best way to eat. I’m doing this for the rest of my life! And the list goes on …
As you’ve had the chance to see within this blog, I’ve recently applied this passion to radically transform my diet and way of life. I’ve channeled and combined it with my love for social media and public relations to begin building a brand and community for those who want to get inspired and truly change themselves into healthier beings. All of this happened very fast. I literally went from having no Facebook page, hardly using this blog and barely tweeting or pinning to now have a community of 790+ blog subscribers, increasing my Twitter following by 130% in a month and daily updating a community of 175 Facebook fans.
Thanks to my Whole30 posts encouraging others and a shout out from my new friend, Gini Dietrich at Spin Sucks, this bird hatched and was getting ready to fly in a matter of days. Just a couple of weeks into September and I had over 1,600 people visit this blog in just one day. I really wasn’t prepared for that much attention so early on. I was scrambling to create and optimize a place where people could actually stay and come back for community and support. That’s a lot of change for a newly hatched birdie.
Not Quite Flying Yet
First I was excited. Then … I was completely freaked out. Everything was happening so fast!! I started looking at all these people and thinking: What if I let them down? What if I don’t write about what they enjoy reading? There are so many smart bloggers and social media people out there and I feel so far behind … I started reading more social media blogs online, experimenting with tools, checking out what other blogs were doing to see what I liked …
Chirping, flapping my wings and JUMP … I was out of the nest.
Singing and Training Wings
I learned a lot quickly …. in a matter of a week I crammed in a ton of SM knowledge and was tweeting my new SM buddies for their opinions and advice. I was flying! But I was fumbling. To dedicate as much time as I was to something that wasn’t my job or my family and trying to maintain the time-consuming diet and exercise regime I was actually blogging about was just too much. I was actually starting to burn out at the thought of keeping up with it all!
And that’s why I found myself laughing out loud Sunday morning. Why was I trying to cram years of SM experience and expertise into a week? I mean, I could do it that way because, let’s face it I’m pretty smart (hehe) but why not take my time and learn how to fly from those around me? That’s what resonated with me from the above analogy. Just rest. Wait. Things happen over time. And I’m thankful for that.
So I’m back in the nest for now. Observing, singing and stretching my wings. I’m no longer exhausting myself with premature flying attempts. I know I’ll be jumping out again here soon but in the meantime I’m really enjoying the renewed perspective this nest provides.
My encouragement to you is to look at how you spend your time and see if you should start making more time to gain perspective and rest. I’m sure the answer for most of us is yes.
Here are 5 ideas to help get you started:
- Make time for silence each morning. I’ve just started doing this and … it’s really hard! Do you think you can go 10 or 15 minutes without thinking about what’s coming in the day ahead, what you have to do and remember to do? Well, with practice, it’s possible! Try starting your day with some time to close your eyes and be still and silent. I usually couple this with some inspirational reading (the Bible, Tony Robbins, etc.)
- Treat yourself to the pleasure of endorphins. Basically, get out and take a walk by yourself. No music. No phone. No iPad. Just walk or do some other form of exercise for at least 30 minutes. See if you don’t feel renewed and like you’ve gained some valuable perspective. Works wonders!
- Be intentional with your family. Especially if you’re in your own head all day (honestly, who isn’t?) it can be tough to stop and come up for air. I have to mentally stop myself and choose to engage.
- If you’re having trouble keeping up with friends, set a weekly goal of getting back in touch. I’m horrible at this. Just ask my friend, Amber in Alaska. Not only do we have a 4-hour time difference, I just suck at making phone calls to catch up a priority sometimes. Notice I didn’t say I suck at keeping up with people? I don’t make it a priority. So, I’ve started setting a goal of calling a couple of friends a week to just check in and see what’s new.
- Write. Whether you have a blog, dairy or talk to Siri, take time to document your thoughts so that you can look back to see where you’ve come, where you’re going and what ideas you’re having. You can even be like my husband and “private blog.”
For more ideas, read my blog about Stress.
~ Kate