a day of rest.

Every person needs to take one day away. A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future. Jobs, family, employers, and friends can exist one day without any one of us, and if our egos permit us to confess, they could exist eternally in our absence. Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us. – Maya Angelou

I wake up nearly every day in pain. A bad back, a hip injury, nerve damage…all conspire on most days to make me feel like I'm 71, not 41. For the most part, I've built up a tolerance. I move a bit more slowly until I get a handle on it & go about my day.

Yesterday, I couldn't get a handle on it. There was something a bit more insistent about the pain when I woke up. Something that told me that I wasn't going to be able to power through. I mentioned this to Austin, and he said "Mom. Your back has been really hurting lately. I think that your co-workers would tell you to listen to your body. The work will still be there tomorrow." He's a wise one, that boy. And so, I stayed home. I rarely call in sick, so this was kind of a big deal. 

I proceeded to spend the entire day resting. I mentioned my day at home in an email, and described it as "nursing a painful back & an exhausted mind." The link between the two is not lost on me. I didn't clean. I didn't fold laundry. I didn't "catch up" on the list of household stuff that is never-ending. I answered a handful of work emails, but I didn't work. I watched a few episodes of Alias, and the new episode of Private Practice. I took 2 naps. By the end of the day, my back felt SO much better. It's a good reminder that we have to give ourselves space – and permission – to rest and heal body, mind, and spirit.