You are no longer a child. You are not trying to get out of math quiz. You don’t fake it. If your body is telling you that you are tired, listen.
And even if you have the impulse that you MIGHT be faking it – that’s important information, too.
About once a month I teach a 4-day intensive at Sam Christensen Studios (www.SamChristensen.com) and I finally had to make it a policy that I keep the day after we end free of appointments and obligations. While it panics me slightly to do so (how can I take a day off! I’ve been in a workshop for four days! I’m so far behind in my work! Eeeep!) I have learned that if I do NOT take the day off, I will pay for it all week.
In other words: one day of rest equals a whole week of productivity. And “pushing through” leads to several days of exhaustion and poor quality of life.
Where can you rest? What deadlines could you move? What projects could you set aside for now?
Want to get truly radical? Rest BEFORE you get tired.
Also known as: fill up the gas tank before it hits “E.”
Now excuse me, please – I’m going to go take a nap.
I loved what you told Ann on the call. Thanks for raising this point and sharing your story so clearly here. No one ever taught me this yet self-care is sooooooo essential to our well-being! Having enjoyed excellent health throughout my life, I learned the hard way in my early 50s when I pushed through any and all physical symptoms taking a series of super antibiotics prescribed by physicians to continue teaching when I was emotionally drained from real losses in my life (mom’s death, husband’s betrayal and divorce) … and finally was forced to take an extended medical leave with a diagnosis of Epstein Barr. I’d always prided myself on being healthy … taking no sick days, etc. A doctor said to me that if I’d used some of my annual sick days all along I might have saved my body the trauma of this condition. It took a long time and lots of practice to learn to pay attention to my schedule enough to stay healthy when I finally was able to return to work, and even now I struggle occasionally to cut myself some slack to take care of myself.
Hugs and blessings,