December is the festive season and whether you believe in Christmas or not, it is usually the time of the year when you get to spend with your family. In today’s post, we’ll consider some family time.
People are often caught up in the rat race of having to work-work-work while learners have to learn-learn-learn and students have to study-study-study. This is all good and there is definitely a time to work and a time to learn and a time to study, but there is also time to spend with your family. Your family deserves your undivided attention as well and during the upcoming festive season, it is the ideal time to make the decision to spend some quality time with your family.
Some may feel guilty for not working. Unfortunately, this is the illness of our time in the 21st century. We have been conditioned to always be productive and people believe that to be that they should always be working or else they feel guilty. This is something you have to look right in the face and deal with because you were not created to constantly work. You have not been designed to be available to customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days per year. That is not how you were designed, but that is what modern-day living often expects of us. Even worse, that is what many employers expect of their employees.
It leaves me flabbergasted when hearing about employers going on vacation and not being reachable due to being on vacation and spending time with their families, but then they are the very ones that expect their employees to constantly be available. Employees are often expected to cut their vacation short in order to return to the office to do some work while others are given vacation, yet they are expected to work remotely and be constantly on call even when they are supposed to be on vacation. This happens in South Africa, regardless of what labour legislation is saying, but that is not what I’m talking about at the moment. I don’t want to talk about employers taking their employees for granted and ignoring labour legislation.
What I’m talking about, is about those employees allowing themselves to be taken advantage of. I’m talking to you that believe that if you are not in the office, not constantly and permanently available on telephone, Whatsapp and email that your world will come crashing down. I’m speaking to you that thinks it is acceptable to ignore your family while spending more and more time working. You have to reconsider what you are doing. It is not a healthy situation to spend all your time busy-busy-busy. You have to take time off and with time off, I mean, proper time off where you put your cellphone off, ignore the emails and spend time with yourself and with your families. That is part of what makes you productive; the ability to manage time appropriately so you are also able to take time off and recuperate from a year of hard work.
Don’t get me wrong, I understand that there are many people having to work over the festive season and you are in a career where it is crucial for you to do your part; you may be in the police, or emergency services or you are part of healthcare and medical staff. You may have to work during December, but you should take time off when you get the opportunity to do so; often it is out-of-season times. Time off is needed by every person.
What you should keep in mind, is a simple notion: Even if you have to be on call or work during the December festive season, you can still plan ahead and use your off times during this period effectively by spending those free hours with your family.
Family time is part of your overall wellbeing.
Yes, I know, everyone does not have the best family and there are usually some family problems and challenges in every family, but you still need to spend time with family in order to experience overall wellness in all areas of your life. If not, you will always feel something is missing. What is missing, is usually the fact that you are a social being and you were created to spend some time with family. It does not mean you have to spend every waking minute with your family, but some time with the family is needed.
Let us think about what I’m trying to say from a different perspective. You may be a family person with a spouse and children. They are your immediate family and they deserve your time too. They may have experienced your time throughout the year, but usually it is not undivided time; usually your time is divided between them and your work responsibilities. Sometimes it is divided between your cellphone time as well. Why not consider putting your cellphone aside during this festive season and spending proper quality time with your family?
Being a therapeutic reflexologist, I’m fully aware that overall wellness is needed in order to live a balanced lifestyle. I also understand that it is not always easy to get to all your responsibilities and sometimes you have to juggle many things and you may become totally overwhelmed with all you need to do just to keep your head above water. It is part of life. When you are self-employed, it becomes even more difficult, because you are not ensured of a fixed salary at the end of the month and often you don’t know if you will have enough income to meet all your needs and demands. I fully understand.
That is why it is important for you to schedule some time off for yourself and to schedule some time into your life where you can spend it with your family.
When I entered self-employment, I also had to deal with the same matters and yes, it is normal to feel guilty when you are not working and earning income if you are not ensured of a fixed salary at the end of the month. However, you cannot remain in that state of mind. You have to move on and get to a point where you do not feel guilty when you are not working; when you do not feel guilty when spending time with your family instead of working. That is a mindset that you need to deal with because your life is out of balance if you constantly have to work in order not to feel guilty. You may need some help to deal with this, but the first step is usually to spend some quality time with your family, regardless of any feelings of guilt you may have. Ultimately, your family deserves your time too.
Whether you work during the festive season or whether you have the privilege of being on vacation; why not schedule some quality time with your family in order for the feet of your family to get some time with yours?
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Christo A. Scheepers: Therapeutic Reflexologist
Dip.T.R.(Cum Laude) [IARAMT]
AHPCSA: A11945
Pr. No.: 1080000737453
Tel. 072-800 7243