Letting my guard down!

This past Saturday, I did something rare for me.

I went by feel. I took a nap when I wanted. I zoned out and got my fill of short viral videos on social media. I watched movies and TV shows on Netflix to my hearts content. I listened to music. I listened to the fan in my bedroom spin round and round. I took in the sound of silence. Oh yea, I took a second nap. I even managed to pick up and read a few chapters of the book that I’ve been positioning from one side of my desk to the other. And to think I thought books were just big paper weights!

If I lived closer to the ocean, it’s the kind of day that I would’ve gone to the beach and just kicked back on the sand. If it was the summer, I probably would’ve found a shaded spot, put up a hammock, and fallen asleep listening to the tweeting birds.

I relaxed. I chilled.

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Taking a lazy day

I didn’t plan anything. I didn’t worry about a schedule. I left everything to feel.

The urge to be productive hit me throughout the day. It was like an itch on the back of my neck. When I get the productivity urge most days, I usually am quick to respond. “You need something. Right this way. I’ll get right on that.” Oh, I’m familiar with the urge. I need to be productive. It’s just a part of my achiever, perfectionist nature. The itch came more than normal on Saturday. I didn’t listen to it though. I let the feeling wash over me and go straight to voicemail.

“Hello, you have 300 new messages.”

It was a strange day indeed.

Image by Pexels.

Recharging the batteries

We all need days like that. We need them to forget about the stress. We need them to forget about our responsibilities and obligations. We need those days to get our physical, mental, and emotional self back in shape. Oh, there will be days in the not too distant future when I need to get 101 things done by 9 a.m. There will be days where I need to be on the clock and under the microscope. There will be days where I need to be “on” and will need to take care of business.

I’ve had more than my share of crazy, stress-filled days. This day though was about one thing and one thing only: taking care of me.

How do you manage self-care to prevent burnout and illness? How do you spend your self-care time?

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53 thoughts on “Letting my guard down!”

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  1. Good for you, my friend! As a recovering “equal opportunity overachiever” I embrace new patterns of “non-production”. I light a long candle and read my devotions by candlelight each morning. Sip my coffee slowly. I have “non-tech” days and have let go even of the pressure of producing a blog each week. I’ve shared with those who might worry if I don’t answer that they can SOS (or me to them) IF it’s an emergency. Time in nature, a treat at Sonic or my favorite frozen yogurt place, by a tree, in the woods…music, movie…I’m with you brother! Good for you!

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  3. I do things pretty much like that, but in hours-not days! I just drop everything and walk outside until my head clears. (If it’s cold, I go in the heated greenhouse)

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  4. This makes me happy because you made your soul happy! You listened to what you needed! Yay you.

    I do much of the same. I meander around Apple Music and add or create new playlists. I search for new skin care products and purchase on line. I write snippets for the show I’m creating. Sometimes I’ll get in car and drive to the beach with a huge coffee and watch the waves and people watching the waves. Other times I’ll drive to a store I’ve been meaning to check out and just peruse. We need to do more of what our hearts want to do!

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  5. I have a lot of those days now that I’m in my 80s. Never thought I’d be sitting in a chair binging on old TV series. My chair and I are wearing out. It’s hard not to be active and I think we beat ourselves up too much about taking a lazy day. I’m very glad you did so.

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    1. It’s not “wearing” out. It’s “taking in all that life has to offer.” Ha, ha. Yes, yes, I hear you about beating ourselves up too much. I know I do that. Some of it is the work ethic that my father gave me. But I also have a ton of blame. I need to remind myself to slow down and focus on what matters the most. It’s too easy to just keep working. You end up missing out on important things. Thanks for the encouragement. I need it!!!

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      1. We all need to be encouraged Brian. Life is hard. Some things are hard to endure. This blogging community is great for that. God is even greater. I come from a strong work ethic background and I fear I’ve instilled that trait in my children. We sometimes forget that even God rested on the 7th day of creating the world.

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  6. Love the “mini-staycation.” – no plans, no schedule to monitor…just le the day take you…my wife bought me a beautiful new turntable/console, and the other day I just stopped everything, put on an album, and listened to it. It was “Sgt. Peppers remastered and boy what a joy….the rest of the day could wait!

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  8. Down time when you need it. I didn’t, just kept saying yes. Good yesses, but I should have really rested when I needed to. At age 56, I came down with fibromyalgia. Nothing helped. At 81 I still have it, am disabled because of it, have made peace with it–NAPS! After a nap, I have just enough energy for a walk, or a little writing.

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  10. Those days are nice. For me, walking out in nature is top of the list for me. Standing by a stream, watching and listening if I am in the area where I know there is a stream. Watching and listening to the birds as well.
    But if not going out, then watching movies or reading in the quiet.

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  11. this is wonderful and you are practicing for retirement, but no reason not to take those days now! we all need time for self care. I remember in the school of ed, one of my professors said, ‘you will all make time in your schedules for parents, students, colleagues, administrators, meetings, appointments, but not for yourselves. you need to also schedule in time just for you and honor it and not cancel it just as you would the other things on your schedules.’ so important and I’ve never forgotten it.

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    1. Yes, I could get used to retirement real quick!!! I know it’s a change. I know it’s not all ice cream and truffles and relaxing by the pool. But I think I’ll be pretty good at retirement. I like to write. I have volunteer like things to keep me busy. I’ve thought about retirement so it’s not a surprise. We’ll see.

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  16. Oh, I feel more relaxed just reading this, Brian. I loved your sentence, “I let the feeling wash over me and go straight to voicemail.” Brilliant to take a day just by feel. I do that every once in a while when my kids sleep over at my brother’s and it’s delicious and delightful.

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  18. So important to allow oneself these days! My equivalent right now with two young kids (3 and 6) is to give myself days with them where we have no schedule and do nothing but free play. Just letting the to do list go and allowing myself to completely go with the flow with them and let their beautiful minds run free with possibility is so, well, freeing for me as an adult. Hoping to do much more of this this summer!

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    1. Oh, that sounds amazing Erin. One of my favorite memories with my now grown adult kids is when they were about the same age as your kids and my wife was away for a bridal shower or something like that. I had all these ideas written down of what we could do. I wanted to be organized and on the ball. Instead, the thing that was the hit of the day was when they saw a bunch of cardboard boxes in our garage. We ended up bringing them into the living room and making our very own fort. Then we got three more boxes and turned them into cars and had car rides. I kept thinking the kids would get tired but the play went on and on. It flowed naturally from one thing into the next. My wife came home and we ended up getting blankets and having a sleep over in our fort. We grow up . . . but we still need play. Ha, ha. Sounds like you’re going to have a great summer.

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      1. What a beautiful story, Brian, thanks for sharing! It really is amazing how easily we lose sight of the importance of play and yet how quickly kids are able to remind us how to do it. I’m noting the boxes example for the future… 🙂

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      2. It was kind of funny. I remember that I had been worried about keeping the kids “busy.” I’m not sure why. I was always involved with the kids. I had all three of them on my own plenty of times. In fact, one of our favorite things was going grocery shopping without mom (with a list and some clear rules before going into the store. Ha, ha.) But for whatever reason, I was worried that weekend. I had listed out all these ideas like going to the park, playing in the yard, etc., etc. In the end, it was the simplest thing that was the most fun. And yes, boxes are man’s greatest invention. Ha, ha.

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      3. My husband does the “grocery shopping without mom” experience too! I feel like most of us always worry with a full day or two with kids that we need to keep them busy. But they’re so good at figuring out what they want to do! Endlessly curious and engaged.

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  19. I try to schedule self care and something fun, even if it’s 15 minutes, every day. my daughter is very stressed now and it’s hard to watch and I don’t want to jump in and give advice because sometimes you have to learn on your own. a lot of times it’s just a lot of deep breaths

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    1. You bring up a related point. It’s one thing when I’m stressed. I can manage that. If I don’t watch it, I find it’s easy to pick up my kid’s tension, waiting for whatever is going on in their life to get settled. I’m not talking about being a helicopter parent. Just noticing that they’re having stuff going on and trying to stay out of the way, but also offer advice where appropriate.

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      1. I hear you, and it happens to me too. Lately, I’ve been challenging some of those things I “need to accomplish” and asking myself, “Do I really need to do that?” I’m finding that the answer is no for most of them.

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    1. When I was younger, that urge to be productive was good. It kept me on the straight and narrow. It pushed me to get good grades and think about my future. I just gotta watch now. It can get me in trouble. In retirement, I hope it keeps me writing. But I’m hopeful too that I can tell it to take a hike too. Ha, ha. It’s definitely something I’ll need to manage. Thanks for stopping by Penny.

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  22. We all need to embrace those lazy days that are so good for our mind, body and spirit. Kids who balk at and resist the afternoon naps don’t realize what they’re going to miss so much one day!

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