Sometimes rest looks like sitting instead of doing. The list of things I need to do is big and long. But that doesn’t mean I can’t sit on the back of our sidekick with my longtime friend Shea and her husband Justin and just chat. Watch the kids play. Pet the dogs. Sit and talk. Don’t try to do something else while I sit there. Just BE. Watch the rain roll in. See the kids catching chickens.
I also took two naps today. Both times I’d rather have done other things, but I knew my body needed rest.
It’s odd for a body to require so much rest. My counselor said that this is about me not listening to my body for 45 years. I’m also healing MENTALLY and that translates into PHYSICAL fatigue.
No one ever taught me how to listen to my body. It won’t always be this tired, but it’s this tired now. Am I listening? Am I teaching my children to listen? If my son feels overwhelmed going to a social event, does he need to go? He’s an introvert. He doesn’t want to do it. If my daughter’s body hurts from ballet, can’t she take a night off?
Anything that is requiring our children to push past limits, should be looked at closely. As an elite athlete when I was young, no one explained this to me. But there are limits to what we can ask our body to do. Our kids should know what their limits are.
I’m trying to relearn this. I’m trying to listen when my body says: “You’ve had one long conversation today. That’s probably enough.”
The concept is foreign to me. But failing to listen means my family pays the price when I respond in anger to my children because I’m exhausted. My inner circle deserves my best.
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