So, I did a stupid thing last week. A really stupid thing. I stayed up late. We’re not talking an hour late…we’re talking I went to sleep at 5.30 in the morning! And not for a good reason, like dancing, or partying or a new lover…I stayed up to watch the election results!
I know…how…STUPID. To put this in a bit of context, in case you think I love politics and was desperate to know who’d be Prime Minister of the UK…I don’t and I wasn’t. As far as I’m concerned, the politicians are like card dealers at a casino – they deal the cards, I play them as best I can. I vote, but if the party I voted for doesn’t get in, I don’t threaten to leave the country and rant about everyone else being selfish and stupid. (by the way, not a great way to change people’s minds)
Anyway, all political crap aside, I stayed up til 5.30 in the morning. Not wise. My energy issues are well documented, but just in case you don’t know them: I have MS, my energy is fragile and it takes me days to recover from something like this. Which is why I say it was a stupid thing to do. Because it wasn’t important enough for the price I’ve had to pay over the past days.
As you can probably imagine, Friday was a total write-off! I had a few hours sleep, got up, stumbled around in a sleep-deprived fog doing what really had to be done for a couple of hours, then went back to bed for the afternoon. What would have been great would have been a nice lazy weekend to recover…but no. I was out on Friday night, at the match on Saturday shouting “lovingly” at my team, and Sunday was shopping, housework, meeting a friend and doing all the other things I hadn’t had time for the rest of the weekend.
And then it was Monday. And I was still worn out. I was pretty gentle with myself, didn’t worry too much about it, but I was aware of the undercurrent of “you should be getting busy; big to do list; lots to get on with, not just doing the bare minimum and finishing early”. But there was a problem with that – my energy wasn’t there for working and going at it like a racehorse.
One of the greatest joys of working for yourself is that you can honour your needs. Many self-employed people don’t, and it took me years to realise that my health is more important than my to do list, and that it is entirely counter-productive to whip an exhausted horse. You need to let him rest. You need to honour your energy.
And that leads me nicely to my point: it’s ok to honour your needs. It’s ok to let yourself be low on energy and to respond to that.
It’s ok to take it easy because that’s what you need. It’s ok not to be a hard-taskmaster and cruel jockey. It’s ok to allow yourself to do what’s right for you. In our fast-paced, stress-admiring society it might not be fashionable to go slow, take it easy and look after yourself…but it’s a damn sight better than the alternative of busying yourself into an early grave.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I believe it’s time for me to go chill out for an hour, because would you believe it, I’m still tired after the stupid all-nighter I pulled!
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2 responses to “It’s OK To Honour Your Needs”
Haha – love it! It was definitely what you needed to read then, huh?! Yes, I’m fully recovered now thanks hon. And I love that “lesson from Black Beauty” 😀 (a book I loved as a kid, but now can’t read as an adult because it’s just too upsetting!) xxx
Hah -this is the second time I’ve picked this one to read! Reminds me of one of the lessons of Black Beauty: how counter-productive it is to beat an exhausted horse (or person). No need to chastise yourself, either – no matter how “stupid” the thing you did was. I hope you’ve recovered by now, my dear! Hugs ~