I’m much better at relaxing than I used to be
Several years ago I was getting heart palpitations due to stress, because I was pushing myself so hard in my biz. I was doing too many things at once, going from project to project to project with no breather in between, and even then, never thinking I was doing enough.
A lot has changed since then, because it had to. It wasn’t sustainable.
These days, I know my best (with intention and devotion and care) is enough, but I am also human, so when my monkey mind/ego/mind-based chit-chat tries to tell me otherwise, I show them the proof.
The proof that in slowing down, I get more done.
The proof that by taking breaks where I read books and magazines and watch my favourite shows and have lunch away from my desk, I am way more productive (and often work less hours than if I’d not had a break).
The proof that clearly says self-compassion is as important as strategy.
The proof that says self-care brings a higher return on investment than its opposite; pushing, rushing, striving, fighting, forcing, berating, begrudging, resentment.
So this week has been a week where I’ve been away from my desk for hours at a time. In fact, today I’ve not sat down at my desk once. I went to yoga and to an art gallery and for lunch with my sister and mum. I lay on my bed while the rain came down and the wind howled, and wrote for a little while, and then watched an episode of House of Cards, and drank tea and ate almonds.
I did all of this because I’ve just finished writing my second book, and I’ve just finished travelling the country running my Love What You Create workshops, and I’m about to start creating the online version of the in-person workshops… so if I didn’t take this break now, I might burn out.
Or not.
But I’m taking the break anyway, because it’s lovely to slow down, and to know – deep down and up high and in all the spaces in between – that you can slow down.
Because you are doing enough.
And because you are enough.
(And also because it’s lovely to not have heart palpitations.)
Love,
