Listen

I love to be busy - always have. Growning up, I had to be busy or at least doing something. I remember lingering too long in bed or laying too long in front of the TV, one of my parents would ask, "Don't you have something to do?" If not, they were always available to help. "If you don't, we could find you something do to?"

To this day, I like to be busy. Even now, if I get some free time, I find that voice in my head asking, "Don't I have something to do? Maybe you should find something to do!" Yet, there are still times when I need to calm myself down and literally go sit down somewhere.

I took some time off this weekend because I needed to. Between the release of Get It Together Girl, my day job, my weight loss efforts and a handful of personal and professional obligations and freelance projects, I was tired. Really tired. I was ripping and running and running and ripping when I hit the wall. Well, when I actually hit the wall, I was walking. Getting my 90 minute walk in. I was headed back to the house when it hit me like a ton of bricks. A wave of exhaustion literally swept over me.

When I got back home, I was useless. Although I had a few items left on my to do list, I realized they weren't going to get done. I've wasted too many evenings trying to force myself to work through the tiredness. Now, I know better.

Instead, I did something I never would have done, in past years. I took a look at my packed weekend and I pared it down. I eliminated all work projects and only left the social ones that I was really looking forward to.

As I've gotten older, I have found it easier and easier to say "No." I have yet to lose a friend over it. While some have been mildly annoyed by it, they've gotten over it. Listening to my body and taking what it is telling me seriously has made a huge difference.

After I get the rest, after I take the break, I can come back stronger, more focused and more alert than I was before. It does make a difference.

Now, when I'm taking a break and I hear that old voice asking, "Don't you have something to do." I have an answer. As I'm rolling over in the bed, or watching a movie, or taking a nice long drive, I smile and say, "Yes, and I'm doing it right now!"