NOTES FROM THE AWARENESS: 1316

0nly what really matters.

We all need down days, days when our to-dos and cares can go hang, days when we just chill and rejuvenate. Unfortunately, we don’t often honor this need. We tend to push ourselves to be responsible and productive.

This tendency can leave us feeling strung-out and exhausted. And even so, we likely haven’t accomplished everything we believe we should do. It’s probably simply not feasible.

Pushing ourselves hard also has diminishing returns. We don’t do our best decision-making and effort when we’re tapped out. When our personal resources are depleted, we simply don’t have as much to give.

The cure for this state is to rest and essentially do nothing. Or at least nothing that doesn’t really matter to us. A refreshing walk is the woods is okay. Spending time with our children and loved ones having fun is also okay, if we have the energy to do so. Scrubbing our bathroom can wait.

When we pare down our activity on down days to only things that really matter, we may be surprised by how little of what we feel we must do meets that criterion. We may discover that we’re expending a goodly amount of time and effort on things we don’t care about.

Today’s message invites me to spend more time resting and honoring my sense of what matters. I only have one sweet life in this body. Why not care for myself and my body and expend my time on things important to me?

Please reflect and share. Are you good at figuring out what really matters to you?