Coffee Talk: Taking time to Relax






Good morning! I hope your day is off to a good start, I know mine seems to be going that way. I enjoy my early mornings, as it's the only time I'm truly alone. Everyone else is asleep, and I have a little while to myself in a serene house.

Anyway, I mentioned in the last Coffee Talk about how I took a much-needed day of laziness and relaxtion. I told you I'd talk more about it in another post, so grab a cup of coffee and read on.



Image courtesy of noanxiety.com. 


Ahh, relaxation. There's nothing quite like it, is there? So why is it then, that we never really get enough of it. I know I don't. My weekdays begin when I wake up at 5 a.m., get ready for work, leave the house at 7:15 a.m., and arrive back home in the evening at 6:15 p.m. This means that I now have time to relax, right? Wrong. This is when it's time to do some household chores, make a meal, then help children with homework when applicable (which is most nights). To make a long story short, my weekdays, and hence my week, are long and leave little time for relaxation.

Then, the weekend arrives, and, finally, I have time to relax, right? Wrong again. There are chores, cleaning, laundry, and various errands that need to get taken care of. This is also the time to get out and do some kind of activity, spend time with family, and maybe throw in a get-together with friends. For me, weekends also mean doing a podcast and working on The Write Life. 

Rarely, then, comes a day when I can just kick back and do nothing...well, at least not without feeling guilty. That's why a nice, long weekend like Thanksgiving weekend was wonderful for me. After the food and festivities of Thursday, everyone pitched in to clean up, and I set out paper plates, cups, bowls, napkins, and plastic dishware. Friday then, everyone helped themselves to leftovers, and, besides taking a shower, I did nothing all day. It was fantastic. 

It was really great just to relax in my jammies, listen to music, drink some wine, take a nap, and watch movies. Now, I wouldn't want to do this for days on end, but in the fast-paced world that most of us live in, we need days like this.

You ever notice how time seems to move by faster and faster? I know I sure do. I'm sure much of this has to do with routine. We do the same thing, day in and day out. Our weekdays go along pretty much the same until the weekend comes. What we do on the weekends might vary some, but we still do some things that are the same (cleaning, chores, and errands). All this routine feels like the we're just moving in sync with the hands of the clock, speeding up our sense of time. This is why vacations are important. They help us slow down time for awhile, by doing things off our routine. We're either somewhere different, or involved in different kinds of activities out of the norm.

So what do you do when you don't take vacations often, or even rarely? I think that when you have a long weekend you need to vary out of your routine and take time to slow down...relax...enjoy the moment. This is what helps us slow down time, even if it's just for a day, and helps us reset. It's an important reminder of why down-time is so important for our health and well-being. So, take some time soon, maybe one Saturday a month for example, and just relax.

In other coffee talk:

It's already December! Back away slowly Christmas...we're not ready for you just yet.

I did not finish my short story in time for the deadline. I knew I would be pushing it since the contest only ran one month, and I heard about it two weeks in. That's all right, because I'll finish it, polish it up, and hold on to it. There are other contests to enter!

In big news, I'm starting a weekly email! It will be a way for me to connect on a personal level with people and give exclusive content, information, and other fun tidbits. You can find the link to sign up on my front page of my website, on the top of the right-hand column. If you view it on mobile, if you go down to the bottom of the page, you can choose to look at the web version of my site, then you will find the link. Sign up! You won't regret it. *wink wink*

It's Friday, and I hope you're looking at a fun weekend. I have a fun get-together planned, and I'm looking forward to it. Have a great one whatever you do.

-H.A.






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