My body is tired, I have been on my feet for seven hours waiting tables and all I want to do is take a nap. Half way through my shift I cancelled my night plans and decided I would head straight home, eat some dinner, watch Netflix and pass out by 8pm. In the moment I felt release wash over me as I pressed the send button and told my friend I would see her later in the week instead. I figured that relief would last. This time it would be ok to be alone. Tonight I would just relax…
Flash forward to the end of my shift and already I feel panic arising in my veins. The car is in drive, directed home, but my mind is elsewhere. Tells me I’m wasting time, I am being lazy; I am not fully living if I drive where I’m headed. My body is tired; I have been on my feet for seven hours and my body begs me to disregard my mind. My body tells me to lie down, ignore everyone, be ok with being alone, and be ok with relaxing.
My mind attempts to win of course, it usually does. I consider texting my friend and reestablishing our plans, even though it’s the last thing I feel like doing I still consider it. My mind tells me I should, tells me that a life in bed is a life wasted... Even though I have been up since sunrise, got a workout in, took a walk and did laundry all before even starting my shift, my mind still believes I have accomplished nothing.
But today I don’t let my mind take over. She can “win” all she wants but she cannot move my body, not tonight. Tonight I want to lay in my bed, rest my feet, and finish that show I’ve been binging. Tonight I want to eat my dinner in peace and all-the-while ignore the world around me. Tonight I want to be alone. Tonight I want that to be ok.
Why is it that we spend our lives in the constant fear of missing out? Why is it so hard to just say, “Tonight I am going to relax”? We put so much pressure on ourselves to live each moment to the fullest and not waste a second. It seems as though society todays places such an emphasis on being busy that the second we have a moment to breath, we can’t. We are raised being told that we only have so many days to live. It’s as though life is this pressure to complete and do everything, that we lack the space to do nothing. Nothing is not the norm, but rather wasted time, time that could have been spent doing something.
But what is something really? Is something pushing yourself to do something your mind thinks it wants? Why can’t something listen to our bodies? Why can’t something be nothing? Why is it that after being on my feet all day doing something I finish my day feeling like I’m doing nothing?
So tonight I pose a challenge. I challenge you to listen to your bodies. What are they telling you? If you have the energy, than by all means go do something…But don’t just do it because you feel like you have to and will be missing out if you don’t. Do something because you want to do something. If your body tells you to rest than go ahead, do nothing. Allow your body the ability to wake up refreshed. Give yourself the space to start tomorrow with a plethora of somethings. But right now, be ok with doing nothing, for now just be. Being is enough.
