Life Is Hard - Take It Easy
Authored By: Luke Waite
It never fails me, every time I take even an extra day off of work,I realize that I have been working too much and that all my time is spent putting forth effort towards goals, earning, excelling, more of this and more of that and progressing. If you have read any of my previous articles you will know that I do enjoy those things and they are worth something. Yet, when I take time away from work I experience being in a different way. Let me take a moment to define what I mean by “being”. What I mean by “being” can actually be better defined with the definition of “existence”. Vocabulary.com defines existence as “the state of being alive or being real”. When I find space to think about life, existence, and meaning, I receive a feeling of realization that course corrects me from what I can get out of life to focus on what I can experience during it. Now that I have thoroughly bored you with the existential crisis I have when taking time off from work, I want to share with you a few ways to take it easy from someone who loves work and getting things done!
1. Life Is Hard - Take Some Rest
If you are lucky enough to work in a job that offers vacation, you should take some. I know that it may feel like the work won't get done while you are away but rest assured (pun intended)...it will. Or in a worst case scenario, it won't get done and you will have to do it when you return. One side note here, if you work in a place where they do not let you take time off or make you feel bad for taking the time off...it's time to assess if that place really wants you to be a healthy person or if they are just trying to squeeze all of the life out of you.
2. Life Is Hard - Re-Center
Maybe you love having a sit. I know I do. If you know me, you know that my favorite pastime is “having a sit”. This includes everything that is sitting and nothing that is not sitting. Put a little differently, having a sit is sitting down and having nothing else to do other than sitting. No book, no instagram, no conversation...just sitting alone with whatever thoughts come up. Pretty simple, I know! For you it may be yoga, or prayer, or a facial, or maybe a glass of wine but whatever that centering thing is...take time to do that. Allow yourself the space to be re-centered. It’s ok to do this and you will be better at everything else you have to do if you take time to center yourself.
3 . Life Is Hard - Eat Well
Stop eating so much McDonalds. I know, it’s delicious but the flip side of the coin is that it is also pretty terrible for you. Side note, I stopped eating fast food on a regular basis this year and lost 13lbs. I also feel way better and my stomach doesn’t hurt on a regular basis...so eat well to be well! You deserve to feel well!
4. Life Is Hard - Listen
Life is so difficult sometimes and unfortunately you are not the only one who Life Is Hard for. It’s actually hard for most people and most people don’t have a listening ear, so offer yourself as that listening ear. It will do two things: 1. you will be giving of yourself to care for the other and 2. it will help you acknowledge that you are not alone in the struggles of life. So listen.
5. Life Is Hard - Drink more water and a little less whiskey.
If you know me, you know that I do love a good glass of whiskey neat...more specifically rye. That said, your body will enjoy a few more 16oz glasses of delicious H2o instead. I need it and you do too! Not to say that you shouldn’t indulge in the occasional delicious whiskey but spend a bit more time enjoying what you are mostly made of...WATER!
6. Life Is Hard - Acknowledge What’s Been Accomplished
In life, it becomes so easy to forget what you have already done because life moves so fast that you have already moved on to the next thing. It’s just the way of modernity. Further, we are not the things that we have done, do, or are about to do. That said, take a moment to reflect on the things that have been accomplished. Reflect and absorb the moment. Really BE in that experience and let that moment be what it will be.
All of this to say, life is hard! Give yourself a break and take some rest.
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