As I mentioned in a post earlier this week, I’ve been sick.
It happens maybe twice a year that I’m sick for more than a 24 hour period. Usually I can fight through whatever germ is attacking me. After all, stay-at-home Mommy doesn’t have any time banked up to take a day off. (Boo).
Unfortunately, this mega-cold is determined to hang on to the insides of my head regardless of the medicinal and homeopathic tactics I use to thwart it.
Sometimes I think a minor illness like this can be the way God gets us to take a necessary rest.
I don’t know about you, but my life has felt like quite a whirlwind lately. My calendar has been full, any free-time has been quickly gobbled up by people who demand my attention, and my writing time has been nearly non-existent. And I’m pretty sure that my house is going to revolt against me if I don’t clean it soon.
Because both my mind and my body have been going at the speed of light for weeks, perhaps I wasn’t allowing myself any moments to rejuvenate, to refresh, to recharge–and God took over and shut me down.
All of me.
Just ask my hubby. He came home from work yesterday to find me feverish, my glazed eyes fixed on the TV screen, my body huddled under a blanket (although it’s about 90 degrees outside) begging for him to take the kids so that I could go to bed at 6 pm.
Pretty.
But in these past few days where I’ve been down, it’s been kind of nice to rest and focus on…nothing. Although I haven’t been able to completely slow down because my children do have some necessary requirements, it’s been somewhat nice to step away from some of my regular responsibilities and take a mini mind-cation.
Everyone needs a mind-cation, even if it’s just for one day. One night. One thirty-minute period where you simply block out all the demands on your life and focus on…nothing.
The Benefits of a Mind-cation:
1. Staying Healthy. Stepping away from the stress, even for 1 day, is good for your body. Stress can damage your heart and weaken your immune system (I’m a perfect example of a weakened immune system right now).
2. Reprioritizing. In the heat of the moment, every task seems vital. Step away from the chaos. Block it out, even for a short time so that when you come back to it, you can look over the list of demands on your life and focus on the ones that are most important.
3. Eliminating stress. When you are recharged, you can reprioritize (as #2 states) and you might find that some of the things on your to-do list can be eliminated. Or as you complete the tasks at the top of your list, you’ll whittle down the demands placed on you.
4. Moments of Brilliance. Even though I’ve been a mental zombie for a few days, I can’t turn off the story ideas that are dancing in my head. But I was too tired to focus on more than one thing, so I was letting my characters roam freely in my brain without interference from any other thoughts and BANG– they created a fantastic new plot line that hadn’t occurred to me when my mind was focused on 4803692 different things.
5. Family peace. Mommy’s too tired to care if the toys are picked up, the beds are made, or if everyone makes it to the 50 zillion events we have going on. Mommy has slowed down long enough to cuddle with the kiddos instead of folding the 20 loads of laundry that await.
Share with me: Other than sickness, what are the methods you use to recharge when your life feels out of control?
Hale and Hearty Words 
I turn off the electronic devices aka computer and phone and I read or watch TV. I take naps. Sometimes 2 in a day! Have a great weekend, and feel better! 🙂
I’ve come to believe that naps can cure anything. I take one from time to time, usually on a Sunday afternoon if I can fit it in. There’s something about a Sunday afternoon that demands a nap.
Oh my word, I’m sooooo excited to be going on a mind-cation this long weekend. Very little to get done. No games. No activities. We might actually take a picnic to a winery and just CHILL. Ahhhhh.
~ Wendy
That sounds awesome, Wendy. Enjoy it!! 🙂
Sorry to hear you’ve been poorly. It does happen when you are run down. i am very lucky to have a pool now so even if things are crazy in the house, I know I can at the end of it all, go and swim. I would love to nap more, but sometimes you are too wired to even do that. A walk outside is good too. Take care!
Ahhh…unwinding in the pool. Sounds perfect. 🙂
Yes, I have totally needed one of these…and hopefully I’ll get a bit of one this weekend. 😛 I agree with Jess…reading or watching a movie is a mindcation for me.
A great rom-com can do the trick every time. 🙂
If, and that’s a big IF, I can get the kids naps to line up, that is when I unwind, recharge, restore my sanity. Sometimes I nap too, or read, write, edit. Somehow in this down time I am usually still, yet engaged and it suits me perfectly fine. The only rule, no cleaning during naptime 🙂 not one little thing. Great post, hope you get to feeling better soon!
I have the same rule during nap time! NO cleaning!!