What's your "healthy" outlet?

My average day goes something like this -

6AM – Benjamin (my 2 year old) yelling to me (sometimes calling me “Audrey” and not “Mom”) from his crib, “Come get me!”

As soon as Benjamin starts his morning “call”… the other boys are soon to follow. Like, within minutes. Henry. Alexander. And then, William. William is usually my “sleeper”… he’s never excited to be woken up.

7AM – I try to catch some of The Today Show. I need to hear the headline stories to see what’s going on in the world.

7-8:45AM – Breakfast for the boys, dressing the boys, checking my email, publishing a blog post and (of course!) Twitter/Facebook!

8:50AM – Leave to drop off William and Alexander at pre-school

9-11:30AM – Working. Working. Working. Writing, shooting videos, editing video and researching upcoming blog/vlog posts.

11:45AM – Pick the boys up (bringing along Benjamin and Henry).

12-1PM – Lunch for the boys and (trying/hoping/attempting) to clean the places they have “hit.”

1-3PM – Naptime for Benjamin and Henry and the work continues for me.

3-7PM – All the boys are up… work, dinner, playtime, reading, bath-time; everything gets tossed into this “time.” This is sort of my free-for-all time, and never is one day like the last or the next!

7:30PM – Bedtime

And for me… from 8-11PM… the work continues.

This is an average day. I was just recently asked by one of my close friends what my “healthy outlet” is? My healthy outlet? I never had really thought about a healthy outlet before. My friend was talking about some “relaxing time” in my day to decompress and de-stress.

For me? This is easy. I relax by putting my feet up and reading a good book. I love, love, love romance novels. I just lose myself in the characters, in the environment, in the dialogue and in the plot. It’s the one thing that I do that completely brings my mind and body to a resting place. I love a good book. My latest read is Jane Austen’s Emma. This is probably my 5th read… but there’s something about this book that I absolutely love and brings me back.

I never realized just how important this “time” was to have to myself. I don’t get it every single day, that’s for sure… but I strive to find it. I really, really do. I even have started putting books on my nightstand so when I head to bed, I see them right there – and if I happen to have some time, I pull one out and just bring myself to “that place.” And when I’m in that “state,” I know it’s a very healthy and productive place to be.