Permission to Rest
I vacuumed around the dog today. A steady stream of frustration walked itself across my brain like lyrics to a song titled: “Kate’s life is hardest.” I Hate repetitive chores pretty much the most. My way of thinking is I just vacuumed last week that should hold me till… next year right? Nope, maybe a week- if I’m lucky. With three pets I am rarely lucky. Wash the sheets, same thing. It sure is annoying to be clean. Don’t even ASK me about dusting. Love the result hate the process, but luckily through the act of concerted will power and actually being a grown up I clean, every week, whenever I can.
This sucks, i hate chores, i hate being tired, why am i so tired?? mopping makes my back hurt, damn back, this sucks, my mental story continues as I mop the kitchen floor.
I realize its not really the chores its my friend ‘fatigue’. Why don’t we rest more? I wonder. It seems we need permission to do this simple task of resting. Many of my close friends raise children, handle extremely demanding full-time jobs, maintain social lives with family and friends and maybe have a hobby or two. No time to rest with that list taped to the refrigerator door. I think on the list one of the tasks to mark off should be: Rest. More.
I firmly believe if politicians slept more the world would be a nicer place. Can you imagine if the leader of North Korea got a nap once in a while? Maybe he would be less likely to point nuclear weapons at China. I think naps would help our President’s before and after pictures look less like a study in accelerated aging.
Ok so most of us don’t have time for naps, but maybe we CAN rest more. Here’s how I rest without closing my eyes:
1. At home: I walk my dog. At age 13 walking him in the early mornings is an amble with many pauses to sniff a leaf, watch a bunny, mark some territory. No rush. I can take a few deep breaths, watch him roll in the grass and let my brain go where ever it wants. (I don’t recommend this with a 2 year old lab)
2. At work: I drink water. When I was a dispatcher breaks were difficult to come by. Long hours sitting, breaks were like gold, but every minute I was up meant someone else had to work harder. So I would drink and drink and drink, it was healthy sure, but in reality it gave me a much-needed reason to get up without guilt and go sit in the quiet bathroom to enjoy five minutes of uninterrupted silence.
3. If I only have a minute: I switch the story. Those lyrics that repeated inside my head? As I go about my busy day I consciously change them. First, circumstance accepted: I am doing chores I dislike. But my thoughts I can change.
This sucks–> Things have sucked a whole.lot.worse.
I hate chores–> I’m glad I have a house to clean.
I hate being tired–> I’m proud of myself for getting up super early to workout today.
My back hurts–> I could tell my back and core were much stronger in my workout this morning. I know my back will feel better tomorrow. By using my back like this I am making it better.
Ahhhh…there we go I felt that…a little shot of energy to keep going through my day.
I hereby give everyone permission to rest more.
How do you rest without closing your eyes? I’d love to try something new! So leave a comment and let me know. Then we can all have some tricks up our sleeves no matter where we are, so maybe next time, I won’t vacuum around the dog.
Intrepid Women 
kate! What a great story! Iove how it was so honestly written and made me think about my rest and how do I rest. So, I started thinking about some of the ways I “rest”… and I found that one of the ways I rest is: I will listen to music while in the shower. I turn on my iphone, select a song, and then let the song play while in the shower. Usually, I will close my eyes, head under the spout during the song and just let the hot water wash the worries away – its a form of rest. It can be refreshing and when the song is done, the rest time is up. It usually helps me clear my mind and think better after too. Hope this helps! Joe
Great idea Joe! I tried it and listened to Miranda Lamberts ‘airstream song’. It was perfect to help me think about future goals of owning an airstream and cruising around the US. I could picture myself stopping and setting up in a beautiful place and writing writing writing. It gave me the perfect boost of energy I needed that day! Thank you for the great suggestion.