A Reminder to Rest

Hello and welcome back to Slow It Down. I am your host, VJ Harding. In this week, I am all

by myself. Now, this is just summed up the week that has been, mainly the last couple

of weeks that have been. I grand plans, I have fantastic yeast schedule for this week,

and then there were tech dramas, then there were re-sheet drilling issues. And so, I've surrendered

to the fact that it's just going to be me doing a solo episode this week, which is never

as good. I never feel like it's quite as vibrant and the energy is as good, but I think it's

actually good training for me to just sit here and talk to myself. In talk to you. This

week I wanted to tell you a lesson to my breath. I've just been running around like a

mid-check-in. I'm really sitting down. I wanted to talk this week about knowing when to

stop, knowing when to give yourself the rest, knowing there's you're just around the corner

from Bernard's, and that point of no return. So, the last couple of weeks, particularly

actually last couple of months, have been very busy. And I knew this at the end of last

year. I was like, okay, it's going to be furious, fear, but it's going to be met much.

And now that I'm finally, like, sort about the other side of this incredibly busy page,

oh man, I just, this week, I had to take a day off work. And I felt really uncomfortable

doing that. And it requires a bit of encouragement from my co-workers. They were like, you need

this. I think you should do this. And I don't know. I tried to sort of give so many excuses

as to why I didn't. I was like, I'm fine. I can just get through to the whole day and

get through to Easter. It's fine. And then I realized actually, nah, I need to do this.

I need to take time. And I don't know why it is that we put so much ridiculous pressure

on ourselves to just keep going, to be able to do it all, to keep all of the bulls

up in the air all the time. Because the reality is, you're not going to get a badge for

that. The medal's not worth it. And in fact, you're actually harming yourself and those

around you through the down the track. Like it may seem like a great idea at this

time. But I mean, week after week, you know, guests that I've had on here had talked

about that moment where it's almost too late. And you're like, ah, actually the signs

of the air, I wasn't listening to them. And then my body just went into this kind of

overdrive, whether it was mingely or physically, where your body is just kind of rebelling

because you haven't taken care of it and you haven't nourished the nervous system.

And this podcast I try every week to really put that focus on self care. And I guess awareness

of when we are sort of out of alignment and we're starting to head down struggle straight.

And I just thought it was really hypocritical of me to kind of feel that resistance to

actually just taking a little break. I was like, I talk about this all the time on the

podcast, about the need of really turning in and giving yourself that nourishment for

the nervous system. And here I was literally about to go nuts. This week alone, I forgot

to take my son's school bag to pro school. So I had to get him lunch from the dairy.

And I think this was today, this was literally this morning, I was like, okay, yeah, this

is a sign that I've just, I've just called a little to va and I need a reset. And I think

it's, it's not even just stopping for a day, you know, when you are working full time

and you've got kids, it's the house and everything feeling out of water. And I've got a goal

weight of a girl's weakness, which I've locked forward to for so long. But with committing

to those framed occasions or like going away with friends, then there is a sick face

the other end and it's that you kind of get hind with housework and feeling on top of

stuff. So today, I have taken a day off work and it's kind of being like a reset just

to catch up with life. And it was, it was pretty crazy. The instant impact when I surrendered

to the fact that I was contented out of house, I just had this lift off my shoulders.

Just like a day of catching up and being up with just actually a C suite, everything's

X. I think when you go, go, go, when you go, going, going, going, you just, you don't actually

pay attention to what's around you. You're literally just trying to get through to the

next day. So I guess what I really wanted to come on and say this week is if you are in

that space where you're just going, going, going, going, going, going, and you feel like

you're just going to either and just give you through and you're just going to get through

because that's what I've said to so many people lately. I'm like, yeah, oh no, no, no,

it's been crazy that just one more, you know, one more week of this. And I feel like

you could almost trick yourself into that trap that yeah, you would just get through

it. But actually sometimes I think you have to be bold and make the decision that maybe

you just need a day or maybe you just need to ask for help in some specific area of your

life. Maybe it's washing, maybe it's just getting someone to do the drop off. Maybe it's just

so you can have a few hours to yourself to get your thoughts to fit in their movement.

I have not exercised for at least a month. I reckon properly, like I was going to the

gym so consistently I was coming on here just so I'm proud of my gym routine. And now

that's gone a little window. And I think sometimes it just takes that bold

loop of going, you know what? This is actually going to be detrimental to me in those around me

if I don't actually slow down. But don't just take the time for me. Is my pride really like

that important? Like do you really want to be the one that doesn't have a start that can just

keep going, keep going like what, why do you want to have that reputation? Because I genuinely believe

it's just more harmful in the long run. And I loved this analogy. I actually talked about it

on the radio this week. I don't know if this will be as powerful for you as it was for me, but it

just felt particularly pertinent as to where I'm at in my life at the moment. And it was the

glass versus rubber ball theory essentially going into the fact that particularly in Pirate Hose

and working and when there's so much on in this modern day society, we try and keep all of the balls

up in the air. Keeping the balls up in the air just feels like a real struggle, right? Like

a new bride is so busy and it's like, you have to think of those balls as glass versus rubber balls.

So what are the balls that you're willing to drop? If you drop them, it's not the end of the world,

okay? So if you, I don't know, forget to pack something, whatever, I don't know, or if it's a work

task or all of the things that we can get really, really booked up about. I guess it's just about

moving that that private, that stress that we have over these seemingly really important things.

But when you break it down, for me, the glass balls are family and my height life and they are the

ones that I don't want to break. So I'm going to do what I can to protect those, right? And if that

means a couple of other balls that are rubber, I'm going to fall on the ground and so bear it because

the glass balls are protected. And that is all that really matters. So yeah, I thought from my day off,

I could preach to others to maybe, just maybe if you were due for a little bit of time to yourself,

it's not fair, taking time for you. And there's how I'm going to wrap up this week's episode.

I promise you, I've got some amazing guests lined up for the next couple of weeks. And the

main time, I'd love to know what's on your heart. Like what are you going through at the moment?

What do you want more of from this podcast? Who you want to hear from? Who inspires you? Who

up lifts you? It's a really crazy time to be alive right now with fuel going up, with

potentially eminent, supermarket prices going up. There's a lot on our little minds and hearts.

So if there's anything that I could do in this podcast that could make you feel we're ease

during this time. As always, you can hit the up on Instagram at PJ DJ at our wee bit next week.

For another episode with a guest, I'm Slough Dab.