Hey Bethany –
I love seeing the stories you post, and it’s inspired me to share mine!

I am a first year high school counselor, and this last week (the third week of school!) was a little rough. It was a four day week, but I quickly found myself overcommitted — trying to schedule check-in appointments amidst other responsibilities, going out to meet teachers in between crises, etc.

I be.came on Monday and on Tuesday before school, which I felt really good about! It’s my favorite way to start the day and really sets the tone. But I quickly found myself burnt out, and despite my best intentions to get up early and be.come, I found myself prioritizing more sleep on Wednesday, then again on Thursday, then again on Friday. I told myself I should go home and do it Friday, since I had the weekend ahead of me and I had had a particularly tough day. I came home and had a great night of recharging, but I deferred be.come then, as well.

I told myself today would be the day. No excuses! I woke up and went to the farmer’s market. Then the dog park. Then it was lunch time — a girl’s gotta eat! Hours went by, and I still hadn’t be.come. I even became pretty anxious at some point and knew it would help, but instead I just let it hang over my head.

I’d like to say this is the part of the story where I told myself “just do it!” and I did it and immediately felt better.

Instead, I started preparing, watching tutorials. I set up a new space for myself to be.come in my bedroom. It involved sweeping, moving the bed, rearranging the lighting — my fellow procrastinators will be familiar.

But eventually, I had my space set up. And I was tired of stalling. And I did it, and I really do feel so much better.

Lessons learned: this isn’t just a workout. This is self-care. It’s great to “knock it out” before work; it’s time efficient and it makes me feel great to know I’ve already done something good for myself.

But it’s also okay to take my time when I have it. Some days it might take longer, but that only prolongs the experience. Either way, it will still be there when I’m ready, waiting for me.

You’ve really created such a beautiful thing here. More than a workout or an app, it’s a new perspective. It’s permission to let go of guilt and shame and instead spend time listening to and loving ourselves. Thank you for that!!

P.S. – Second lesson learned: I will likely always feel better after be.coming, so I should probably start adopting a better “just do it” attitude 🙂

– Ashley A.