On Slowing the Insanity and Taking Naps

I just woke up from a nap.

A nap.

On a Saturday afternoon.

I slept.

For more than an hour.

And it was beautiful.

Who am I?

On Thursday morning I had an appointment with my specialist down in Madison. We were discussing how I was doing and, as I listened the words coming out of my mouth, I realized just what an idiot I can be. I was sitting there telling him how in general I'm doing amazingly well but that I had crashed and burned on Sunday and felt like death warmed over.

The reason? Running absolutely nonstop for weeks. 

Something every evening.

Something big every weekend.

Late nights and early mornings.

Why do I do this to myself?

This past week I have started saying "no".

There is enough stress that I have no control over in my life. Why add the stress of saying "yes" to nearly everything?

(Possible Probable Definite Answers: I'm an admitted people pleaser, I love having fun, I love helping people, I have tons of family and friends, I have many interests.)

For the past seven days I have made the choice to fit quiet into my days and week.

coffee on a quiet Sunday morning

fall decorating

lunch in the park during work days

taking my elderly friend for a walk in the fall air

double batch of chocolate chip cookie dough balls in the freezer

feet kicked up after a long week...

...with wine and a new book

(which ironically is about learning to say no, so we can say yes to the best)

candles burning while I write

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you probably could have just skipped this post because it's not the first time I've written about this. I'm a slow learner. 

And also? Sometimes life is going to be crazy insanely horribly busy for a while. And that happens. But it can't be the norm. We weren't created to run nonstop. We weren't created to run on empty all the time.

And life is much more beautiful when you slow down enough to truly enjoy it.