Thursday, November 8, 2007

Learning to Rest

Today is a relatively uneventful day.

Kids woke up coughing so we canceled the small group for today.
Making chicken in the crockpot.
Have to grocery shop and take Holly's phone back to her, since she left it in my car when we went to the ranch yesterday. (The ranch was a great time, by the way. Fun was had by all. :)
Right now, Audrey is napping and Hannah is watching Tigger and Pooh on TV.

I used to be terrified of days like this. The quiet frightened me. I don't think I knew how to rest. Even now, as I enjoy the smell of chicken cooking, and the sound of quiet children, and seeing the kitty laying in the sunshine spilling in through our picture window, it's hard to keep my thoughts away from boredom or even a little sadness.

I could ruin a perfectly great day that way.

We've had a nonstop week - piano lessons and the ranch most of the day yesterday. We need a day to rest and regroup. Most of the time when I feel overwhelmed, I'm really just too tired - I'm pushing myself harder than I need to.

It is hard for a high achiever personality like mine to realize it's okay to sometimes just BE. But, I am learning that to keep my cup full - in order to have something to give to other people, that's exactly what I need to do.

6 comments:

  1. Wow, I thought I was the only one who did that. It must be the personality type or something, huh? Good blog though. You've echoed my thoughts.
    BTW, we found out we're having a girl today! So excited! Hope to catch up soon. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am not a high achiever, but I struggle with that as well. I am so busy, the moment I am not--it feels like I should be doing something. Then I too get depressed or feel lonely. I literally cannot sit down and relax anymore. I wander around my house washing/picking up/cleaning ALL THE TIME.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Liz - How exciting! That was my guess. It seemed like it was time for a girl.

    I just think there might really be something to this. None of us want to be harsh with our kids, or hard on our husband, or just so wiped out that we are overly cranky with grocery store people, etc. It seem to me that the only way to avoid getting to that point, is to force ourselves to rest!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, and another thing, there is a big difference between resting and being lazy. There has to be a balance. What if we gave ourselves permission to run our households the way we felt like it - with no thought of what people might think of us? I know very few people who would live in a pigpen of a house. Maybe we just wouldn't feel guilty nonstop.

    I'm not talking about letting stuff get out of hand, I'm talking about purposefully choosing the environment of our homes...

    Thoughts?

    ReplyDelete
  5. So timely for Sara!! My hubby and I were just discussing my need for constant movement and accomplishment. I agree that the rules are self imposed or at least influenced and imposed by others opinions. I notice that I want to keep a house exactly the way mom and grandmother keep theirs. At this busy time in my life its not possible but I let the fact that my garage is mess dictate the way I feel about myself and the rest of my life. The truth is that if my home is open and inviting nobody is going to notice the extra boxes in the garage!

    ReplyDelete
  6. My new blog...I am using my middle name now.

    www.simplesttruth.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete