I put a request out on Twitter Facebook asking what your main challenges are at this time of year. Responses came back showing a definite theme: “taking time off”, “I obtain it hard to stop working”, “striking the right balance between rest, work and play”, “slowing down”.
There might be a clear require for you to take some physical rest – to enjoy a well-earned break and merely stop. You might have noticed that if you don’t build in enough downtime, your body takes charge and forces you into a halt. You might also discover that if you’ve been storming ahead at high speed, you obtain yourself succumbing to ‘relaxation illness’ – in other words, the moment you stop, you get that cold or flu which was being held at bay whilst on the treadmill.
But ‘resting’ might not necessarily involve a physical stop. When I survived in Australia, I volunteered at a homeless shelter on Christmas Day. It was relatively strenuous – setting up the hall, distributing food, clearing up afterwards – but being there got me away from my own drama and the loneliness I felt from being so far from home. It gave me some sanctuary, a time-out of sorts. It might be that your fortnight ahead is full of physical activity: wrapping, packing, traveling and lots of people. What rest can you obtain amid all that?
It might be that relaxing is about letting go of the exhausting old stories that you spin about yourself, stories like: “I’m no good” or “I can’t do this as well as her”. Perhaps today is the perfect time to tell that critical voice to go on holiday and leave you alone. Here is an opportunity to state farewell to old stories about what Christmas is meant to be about – whether that involves dropping a super-woman compulsion to get everything perfect, or releasing the require to buy in order to show people you love them.
It might be that relaxing for you is about letting go of the fight. Is there a specific topic which you and your mom always clash over? What would it be like to determine to put being peaceful above being right? What if you decided to give that issue a rest, merely for a year? Perhaps you could use this time to enjoy the easy pleasure of company, and the fun and party of being with people you love, seeing them for who they really are.
It might be, of course, that today is a time for you to rest in to the sorrow of loved ones lost. A few days away from work require not be spent productively or cheerfully; perhaps hiding under the duvet and merely being with your broken heart is what’s needed.
How does your spirit, your psyche obtain rest? What brings you that sense of coming home, to a place where all is well?
And finally, as the Copenhagen climate negotiations come to a close this week, perhaps there’s a larger question about what we as a society require to put to rest. Maybe it’s time to let go of continual material growth, perhaps it’s time to put the brakes on and take a breather, and evaluate full-heartedly where to look for our future progress.
However you relate to this time of yr and whatever your plans, might you obtain the rest that you need.
The World Needs Your Passion, So…
1) What do you desire to celebrate that you have done, been and reached which has brought you here? Find that part of you which can acknowledge that you are granted a well-earned, well-deserved break.
2) What could you build in that would grant you rest? A twenty minute walk by yourself to have some space from a chaotic family gathering… Allowing yourself to watch a film without it being for personal development… A sign up somewhere saying “You’ve purchased enough presents already, today stop”.
3) What old stories are you ready to put to rest? Which are the mantras that go round and round, weighing you down and squashing your joy? Commit to this time of year being the time to let them go.
4) Leave a comment on this article, letting us know how you obtain ways of relaxing at this time of year. Is the rest you crave more physical, spiritual, emotional or psychological – or all of the above? When do you feel most restful, and when is it hard to obtain rest?
© Corrina Gordon-Barnes, 2009
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Corrina Gordon-Barnes helps women who are frustrated at not fulfilling their potential. Through one-to-one coaching, workshops, speaks & writing, she helps you to obtain and follow your passion. Want to receive fortnightly motivation and practical strategies? Subscribe to the free fortnightly ezine, The World Needs Your Passion: http://www.youinspireme.co.uk/subscribe.html Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/stress-management-articles/give-it-a-rest-1762241.html
