The Rest

Do you ever feel like you just need to occasionally “stop the world and let me get off”?  I know I do!

It’s not a lesson I’ve learned easily, though. 


Through much of my life, I’ve been busy running at full tilt.  That roundabout couldn’t go fast enough for me.  My daily average was 120% effort.  Perhaps more some days.

I thought I was running comfortably at that pace.  And for a while, maybe I was.


There were signs that this was becoming a less-than-good-thing.  9:30pm dinners in restaurants because cooking would mean eating at 10:30 isn’t a good regular habit.  Neither is starting work at 5am because you’re not sleeping anyways, or “just finishing up” some work after that 9:30pm dinner.  Starburst candies don’t make a meal, even if you have one of each flavour.


The wake-up call started in 2016, but I didn’t heed it.  An old injury started to flare up conspicuously, necessitating a visit to a doctor, with a referral for surgery.  It continued into 2017 when an improperly secured trailer took out the driver’s side of my Jeep.  Thankfully, it was a small wooden trailer, but it still caused enough impact to have me crawling out the passenger side.  But I kept going.


2017 continued its run of not-so-subtle hints when my recovery from the planned surgery belied my stories of previous healing.  Instead of healing much faster than average, it was slower.  It seemed much slower.  I kept going, though, and worked at getting back to that 120%.  After all, it was my normal, right?  An inattentive driver who turned directly into the front passenger corner of my car rounded off that summer with a jolt, but I was still gearing up.  I did manage some time out for my daughter’s wedding.

And then, it happened.  As I kept missing the subtle wake-up calls, I got a bigger one.  A significantly bigger one.  I was still working my way back up to that 120% when I fell from a ladder in a client’s home.  I was only three steps up – less than two feet, or about 60cm for any metric geeks.  Apparently that was all it took.  I don’t remember the fall (probably a good thing), but I certainly remember being on the ground, and looking at my foot.  It was beside my ankle.  (Just in case you’re tempted to try this, I don’t recommend it.) We’ll have more about that in another post, but it’s certainly been a life-changing experience injury.


This injury has had one particularly useful effect – it’s slowed me down, something I’m sure many thought impossible.  And while I feel a little less productive than I once did, I’m also taking more time to think, to consider, to respond.  I’m better able to provide mentorship and support.  I have yet to learn patience.

The lesson here?  It’s ok to slow down.  To rest, whether for a few moments or a longer while.  Listen to your body, your mind, and things around you which might be less obvious.  It’s ok to take time for you.  I needed that lesson to be pretty direct.  Hopefully, you don’t!


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