Has anyone else felt that time quickened its pace over the last several weeks? Besides the holidays and all the events and dinners involved with them, the demands of a brand-new year have been intense.
I have to (note I didn’t write want to) set my goals and write them in an intentional and meaningful way that nearly guarantees that they will be accomplished. I have to schedule a handful of activities. There was a newsletter to co-produce. There’s that rededication to my health and diet plan.
I could go on, but you have your own list that is probably distracting you right now. I had a friend in the old days, when I worked, who said she hated the new year. Somebody would always erase the calendar and black board and she would have to start to invent a brand new year’s activities.
So I’m not surprised that I was exhausted yesterday afternoon. It wasn’t a case of low energy—there was no energy. I didn’t even want to read.
At the same time, I couldn’t seem to take a nap. Synapses were slowly firing in my brain. Ok, you got me. Firing is definitely the wrong word. Just before the fuse fizzled out, there was the smallest little pop of a thought. Sometimes it was followed by a whispered “I should do….” and the sentence was left unfinished. Be honest. The only thing that I was going to do was stay in my chair.
Sure there were some goals to attend to and lots of thinking and planning to do. But yesterday was not the day.
Eventually, one thought did appear in full form. “I need my blankie.” This would require rising from my chair, moving out of the living room, travelling down the hall to the last bedroom on the left to pick up my blankie.
I started to wrap myself in it as I walked back to my chair. Let me explain. It’s very soft and fluffy and big. Big enough that I can pull it up under my chin when I’m in my chair and still have ample blanket to wrap my feet in. It encourages me to cozy up in it.
Once I am fully comfortable, I exhale a deep breath. It’s as if in that one exhalation I get rid of all the stress of the last few weeks. I was going to say that I luxuriate in that comfort, but frankly luxuriating is too much work. I just give in.
It’s a good thing that I took that little comfort time because today has been a busy day. I decided yesterday to write this blog post about my blankie but knew it had to be postponed to today. And that’s all right. I thought at first that this was a topic too light weight, but this is just me talking to you. I hope you have your version of a blankie to comfort you in times of exhaustion.
Yes, I'm with Rob, thanks for expressing how lots of us are feeling!
Im learning that it's ok to take a day and do nothing. I still haven't done it, but at least I am learning to take more time for myself guilt free.