Hurry up and relax

This afternoon I took a nap.
A headache was coming on and my body, ever-achy from my EDS, just needed the rest.
And boy, do I feel better now.
I woke with renewed energy and well-being.
So of course, I vacuumed and dusted, walked the dog, cleaned the windows, folded laundry, mowed the grass, made a batch of jam, and talked on the phone about how busy I am.
Right?

Nope. Not me.
I ate two plums, contemplated what to make for supper, thought about when to do all of the above listed chores, and enjoyed the breeze wafting in my window while I watched the cat try to catch a fly.

Wow, what a wasted afternoon, huh? I didn't get anything done. I didn't feel frazzled or pulled a hundred different directions.
And I can't brag about how busy I was.

Somewhere along the line, our society seems to have come to value busyness for busyness' sake. I could completely rephrase my afternoon activities to make it sound as if I had been busy, busy, busy: I wolfed down two plums at the sink while browsing through my cookbooks, desperate to find a quick and easy meal to make for supper that would also use up my tomatoes. Then I hurriedly finished a book that's due at the library tomorrow, scheduled my weekend, and sat down for a second to catch my breath only to have the cat jumping all over me trying to catch a fly.

I would argue that far from being a waste of time, my afternoon was quite productive. I took the time to care for myself, enabling me to make a great dinner for my family this evening. (Stuffed tomatoes, millet souffle, and a giant chocolate chip cookie, in case you were wondering) I just finished a great fantasy novel that most of my family is reading, enabling me to pass on the book to the next person in line. While enjoying that breeze, I had time to just think a little, appreciate this glorious afternoon, and laugh at my ridiculous cat (he hasn't yet caught that fly). So I happened to be sitting here when my son came in, allowing me to have a nice conversation with him about his summer internship with the USDA, his plans for the evening, and do a little philosophizing about the world and its many ills.

When we take on too much, when we're just busy for busy's sake, we lose that opportunity to be at peace with ourselves, to experience the simple moments of every day in their entirety. We don't take proper care of ourselves, leaving us drained, frazzled, and emotionally raw, and unavailable.

I was talking with my daughter about college this morning, and I told her to have fun. Don't get so caught up in needing to be perfect, don't worry so much about every test, every class, every responsibility that you forget to enjoy the moment.

Life is right now. Right here. It's not tomorrow, or next week, or after the next promotion, or when we can quit that job, or buy that land, or whatever.
If you're overloading your life right now in the pursuit of some future goal, just be sure you know what you're giving up.
You may think it's worth it, and perhaps for you it is. But as the mother of 4 children, only one of whom is still a minor, I can tell you that time goes by so fast you'll likely feel you have whiplash.
And you can never regain those lost moments.
No achievement is worth losing yourself or slighting your family or friendships in the right here and now.

So, you know what? I wasn't overly busy today, and I won't be tomorrow, either. My work will get done, but not at the expense of myself or my family.
My life doesn't start tomorrow.
It's here.
Right now.
And I don't want to miss or mess up a moment of it