Breaks are O.K.

Photo by Albrecht Fietz

Well, the past three weeks have been a little wild for me. I haven't posted anything here in three weeks, a pretty big gap for me! Initially that bothered me (and it still does a little, to be honest). But in staying present with my thoughts and feelings through these weeks, and in trying to use this as a chance to deliberately let go a little, I've learned something important: breaks are, in fact, O.K., even if we feel otherwise.

The first week, when I wasn't able to post a blog on my usual Monday evening, I pushed it forward on my calendar a day. Then two days. Then three. Then I deleted it and thought, all right, I'll just pick up again Monday, back on schedule.

But then Monday came and the same thing happened. I was frustrated with myself, but I knew I just didn't have the time to write—or rather, I was choosing to do other things that were more vital to me at that point: time with family and close friends, time to sleep, time to cook good food. I felt a little of the heebie-jeebies having skipped two weeks in a row, and having to choose among important pursuits that I just didn't have time to chase all at once, but I thought, well, week three will be the charm.

But it wasn't.

Almost the exact same thing happened at the start of week three: I didn't blog, and I felt weird about it. But then, instead of festering about it, I decided at the beginning of the week to let it go. O.K., I decided, this month would look a little different in my writing rhythms. And while that still didn't feel awesome, at least I knew I was making a deliberate—and good—choice I was fine with. I wasn't randomly procrastinating. I was choosing priorities that were higher in that week. Not forever. Just in that week. Respecting new timelines and seasons and changes for the good. Letting go, just a little, of my ridiculously high expectations for myself.

I'm so glad I did. Turns out I made some great choices, given what I got in return.

Can you relate? I'd bet dollars to doughnuts you can. We high achievers push ourselves so hard, and so high, and so far, trying to fly our fighter jets at Mach 10 all the time, that pulling back on the throttle even a little can feel strange and disorienting.

Maybe now is not the week for you to try that. Only you know what you need. But if you find yourself in a space where it's just not possible to do everything on your list without sacrificing really important things like sleep and quality time with people you love, maybe think back to this post. A break is absolutely O.K.

Image credit: Image by Albrecht Fietz from Pixabay