What Deserves Your Attention Right Now?

I didn’t plan to take a break, but it happened anyway.

Between being sick with a lingering flu-cold and simply not having the energy to push through, I stepped back for a bit. What I expected to be short turned into several weeks, and once I stopped trying to rush my way out of it, the pause took care of itself.

That space did something useful.

When the pressure to restart fades, there’s suddenly room to notice where energy is actually going. Not just physically, but mentally. What quietly takes up attention without asking permission.

Food is essential. We need it to live.

But it’s not the only thing that can quietly take up more mental space than it needs to. Routines, work, plans, food decisions:  planning, adjusting, second-guessing, starting over. Small things that add up without us really noticing.

When things slow down, even briefly, the contrast becomes clearer. You can feel the difference between what’s genuinely useful and what’s just noise.

That’s where a simpler question comes in.

What actually deserves your attention right now?

This isn’t about making a big life change or committing to a new approach. It’s about noticing where attention is being spent day to day.

Some questions worth sitting with:

• What thoughts keep looping in the background of your day?

• What feels supportive, and what feels draining?

• What are you managing out of habit rather than need?

Often, we assume everything needs to come back at once after a pause. Routines, expectations, plans. But easing back in can also be about choice. Deciding what returns now, what can wait, and what might not need to return at all.

For me, easing back in has meant letting things come back more slowly and with more intention. That includes how often I write here. Going forward, I’ll be sharing posts monthly, along with recipes on the same schedule.

And if this resonates, it might be worth noticing what’s taking up your mental space lately and whether it still earns it.