Ask Yourself Why (Day 15/31 #sol21)

Somewhere, in the last few days, on one screen or another, I saw something posted along these lines:

Instead of getting down on yourself for being “lazy”, ask yourself why your body needs that kind of rest right now.

Don’t you love it?! I love it. Again, I have zero recollection of where this flashed into my brain, so apologies for not being able to cite my source.

I find it extremely easy to fall into the “Yeah, but I should be…” category when I need a down day. Somewhere along the way, my brain decided that it needed to endlessly justify and explain times of rest. Like it wasn’t okay to put up a white flag here and there and hunker in with books, movies, heavy blankets, and popcorn without preparing and being ready to loudly share multiple paragraphs of reasons why I wasn’t being lazy.

How to move from justifying to providing?

Well…

If I slow down and truly ask myself why my body might need those days of rest, then I effectively offer myself the same level of compassion and grace that I would give a friend in the same position. Would I ever tell a friend that they’re being lazy for taking a day? Nope. Would I ever need a litany of reasons for why a friend took a day off? Nope. Would I view a friend any differently for bailing on plans and doing what they needed to do for them? Nope. Would “My plate is too full and I just need to power down for a day” be reason enough? Yep.

So, for my next trick, watch and be amazed at how I check in with myself, actually listen to myself (what?!), and then provide my own mind, body, and spirit with the care and rest that it needs WHEN IT NEEDS IT and without using the term “lazy”.

Voila!