Hello,
I'm Mervi Eskelinen!
An artist, nerd and sorcerer, dedicated to make world softer and better for everyone, and to get you to make more art. Make art, change the world!
Cut yourself some slack
I spent the most of the day sleeping. I had caught this cold and was freezing, tired, my head was pounding and muscles aching. However when I finally got up from the bed I felt bad about sleeping through the day.
Felt bad? I was ill and needed that sleep, yet I did feel bad about it. And it was Saturday!
Does this ever happen to you? You were so tired you slept more than you think you "should". Or perhaps you were supposed to work and instead you spent time relaxing, maybe meditating even. And then, due to not constantly being productive, you felt bad about it.
Nowadays busy is good. If you work your ass off every day and rest very little, you are a better person. I even see lots of people telling with huge pride how they are workaholics. Help!
Stress is supposed to be triggered by some momentarily challenge, to make your body and mind respond more effectively to an event that requires action. Continuing stress is bad for you. Not only it affects your mind, but it also gives you tons of physical problems and hey, it can kill you prematurely.
The ongoing stress makes you less efficient and affects for instance your memory. Keeping yourself busy all the time and being a workaholic will after a little while turn you out to be pretty useless. Burnout won't make you better with your work or life. And it will happen when you are always busy.
That's why it's important to cut yourself some slack. When you are ill or very tired, have the required rest and sleep to get better (sooner). When you need time off, take time off. Otherwise you will soon find yourself in a situation where you cannot do anything at all. Trust me, I've been there.
Feeling guilty about slacking is understandable when everyone is expected to be productive. But the need for a break is natural.
That's why I told myself feeling guilty about the need for rest is stupid.
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