I have never been good at finding time to relax; I always feel that I should be busy doing something or checking something off my “to-do” list. When I was home in December 2021 with COVID, my wife confined me to our bedroom for nine days until I tested negative. As much as I knew that I was supposed to relax, rest and recuperate, I found myself bothered by my inability to get anything achieved during that nine-day period.
I truly believe that many of us have this same problem, we are so task-oriented, that we don’t look for time to just wind down and let our bodies and our minds take a break. I like the quote by Evan Esar that reads, "The best time to relax is when you don't have time to relax," because even though I sometimes feel overloaded with meetings, reports, phone calls, etc., I don’t realize the value of taking a break, relaxing my mind and body for the sake of revitalizing my mind, body and spirit. Of late, my wife and many of my close friends have told me that I need to take time to get away from my busy schedule and just take a day doing nothing but rest and relax. While I still feel the need to meet the demands of my busy schedule, I have found some downtime on weekends and during the early morning hours. Just like some of my electronic gadgets, I have found that "Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes…including you."
I realize that we all live in a world where things are occurring at a faster pace, and technology sometimes places more burden on us as we need to answer all the text messages and emails we receive each day. While I know I am one of many who find relaxation time difficult to find, I will be working at it, and I wish you well if finding downtime during your very busy day. If you are working at it, best wishes, and always remember, "Relax, Recharge, and Reflect. Sometimes it's OK to do nothing."