The house is quiet. I am here all alone, everyone having cleared out so that I can recuperate from yesterday’s tooth extraction. I feel well, but did notice that lifting a bag of garbage out of the pail resulted in a tugging sensation in the spot that used to house a molar in the back of my mouth. It surprised me and then served as a reminder that my body, once again, had been through something and that I had best just lay low and take things easy. I am not very good at doing that, although G-d knows I have had many instances in which it was the thing to do.
I have not put on the television or the stereo to serve as background noise. The only sounds are of the bubbler in the fish bowl (we have the longest living Purim carnival fish on the face of the earth…I believe we are on year five) and the clicking of the keyboard. Even the dishwasher has finished its job and is silent on the other side of the house, just waiting for someone to empty it. I have consciously decided that I will not be that person today. And, while often such silence makes me anxious and antsy, today that is not the case.
Today I am allowing my body and soul to take a rest. I am not rushing to shower so that I can accomplish errands (of which there are always many). I am not slipping off my comfy pjs in exchange for jeans. In fact, the only thing I am actively considering doing is crawling back under the covers and taking a nap. I am suddenly so acutely aware of my profound exhaustion that said nap may be a necessity as opposed to a luxury. And I cannot blame it on a tooth.
I can ascribe responsibility to any number of things potentially responsible for that groggy, gonna-go-lay down urge, yet I will not. It is not only impossible to lay blame on one issue but it doesn’t particularly matter, either. In fact, I am (nearly) literally patting myself on the back for allowing myself to just lose a day and baby myself. Everything can wait. There is nothing that has to happen today that cannot be tackled tomorrow. And, if we are being truthful here, I may waste tomorrow, too.
If you have nowhere to be, nothing to do and no one relying on you (yeah, lotsa luck with that) I encourage you to do the same.
p.s. Lest you think this is the pain killers talking, let me assure you it isn’t as I am not taking any (don’t need ‘em)…just letting go a little bit. You might want to give it a whirl yourself…
Me. You. Us. 
I can hear the peace in you post, lap it up, it is a gift.
Happy mindful and replenish day to you (fyi, you don’t need a tooth extraction to gift yourself this ever once in a while).
Shhhhhh…………………
I am lapping. In fact, I was reclining and only got up for “soft foods” (I am all about the crunchy foods) and am now contemplating a return to my perch.
Just letting go. Easier said than done, especially as a mother. I have been sick recently and, although I have the house to myself for 5 hours on school days, I can’t say that I have always taken advantage of it and actually rested. I try. Believe me, I try. An example of a typical day of “recovering”: I shuffle the kids out the door in the morning with visions of my couch, a comfy blanket and, blessedly, nothing else dancing in my head. Before I can settle in, though, the laundry needs to be folded. Nobody else does it right, after all. And I can’t get comfy on the couch if my carpet has tiny bits of roping on it from the dogs’ rope toys. Time to vacuum, and then it’s couch time. As I settle in on the couch I notice finger prints on the glass end table. Try as I might, I can’t ignore them. Windexing the table leads to the dusting of everything else. I promise myself that I’ll settle in on the couch after I bathe my foster dog. After all, a clean house that smells like a goofy pit bull is a house that’s not really clean, is it? After the bathing of said pup and, of course, my own dog as well, it’s time to wash the towels and dog beds. I can’t let clean dogs sleep on dirty beds, can I? As I finally get ready to relax on the couch and, hopefully, finally start to feel better, I notice that I have 10 minutes until the first of my three children walks through the door. Sigh.
Exactly!
I’m reading this on, of all things, “lay on the couch and be lazy”day 🙂
Excellent.
I have always thought that getting you to slow down would be like pulling teeth. Let’s hope that your days of rest will not depend on only tooth extractions, though, cuz that would be quite limiting. I mean, what would you have left with which to chew on problems the rest of the time?
Connie is at it again!
Amen, amen, amen!!! You go, girl. And thanks for encouraging the rest of us girls to do the same.
My pleasure. (She wrote upon awakening from a long winter’s rest…)
Big fan of days at home taking care of yourself. But please, never call it a “wast of a daY” it is probably the best investment in your health and mental health that you can make. Time very well spent. Mazal Tov!
Spoken like the therapist you are! Love to you, Andie!
Good for you Julie! I am actually giving myself the same luxury tomorrow. I told my family not to ask me for anything except dinner!! Of course, my intention is to go home made, but I may live on the edge and order in! Hope your tooth is feeling better 🙂
Duh…order in!
Rest, and rest well!
Thanks, Giselle. Feelin’ fine.