When the alarm went off at 5.15am this morning and I heard rain on the roof, I didn’t want to get up, but as I do every Thursday, I hopped out of bed, washed my face, got dressed and went to my pump class. I cant say I enjoyed it as much as boxing yesterday, but I felt a sense of achievement in having made the effort. Afterwards I had a quick coffee with my gym buddy and went to work. About an hour into being there, I remembered that this was my day off, the only one I have rostered off for the next two weeks while my trusty front of house supervisor is having a well deserved break. So I went home.
Then came the quandary; what do I do today? This is how every day off goes for me. My busy mind fights with my need to relax, and relaxing never wins. That is of course if we define relaxing as doing very little. I like to achieve something every day, and that doesn’t just mean making the bed, which is done every day in our house.
So what does relaxing mean for me? Painting some furniture, baking, writing and reading are all activities that I love and that I do not do enough of, except maybe baking as it is often a requirement of my job. I get to paint albeit not as often as I would like, but its been a very long time since I have written this blog, and even longer since I have read a novel.
So here I am, writing about nothing really, but at least I am writing, still thinking about dusting, but focusing on my computer. I know that today the rosters still need publishing and the dairy order needs to be posted, but for now, I will write.
How about boundaries? Do you turn your phone off or not take calls on your day off? If you have staff do you encourage them to text you or call you and let you know of their progress or do you have some boundaries around this? Do you over commit at the expense of time for you? There is just so much noise in this age of technology, I write as my messenger dings another time. We are so contactable that there is almost never a break. When I walked Base Camp in 1999 there was no contact with the rest of the world for 21 days, when I was walking on the Camino five years ago, we had mobile range for much of the walk.
Do others find it hard to wind down? How do you achieve a balance? Do you block out time for the things you enjoy? Writing is a spontaneous activity for me, probably because I am not a real writer with deadlines, so its not something I can just pop in the diary.
I would love to hear your views on my post about nothing, with some tips on how to relax that don’t involve partaking in a glass of wine. It is Dry July and I have made a commitment.
By the way, the feature picture is of our dog Ben, he loves to relax. Be like Ben!
Just Bent 