I don’t know about you but sometimes I have a hard time listening. Not to others as much as I do to my body.
We had our immediate family over on Sunday in celebration of hubb’s birthday. This consists of our oldest boy, his wife and their two little kids, our youngest son, my father-in-law, hubbs and me. It was busy and fun and quite a lot of work. Pots boiling, dishes simmering, little kids buzzing through and stopping to help and play and giggle and charm.
About halfway through the action, I felt the teeniest pinch of something. Just a twinge … of a stomach ache. Nothing serious but certainly not comfortable.
Hugs and smooches in the driveway and little hands waving as they drove away, I turned to hubbs who declared, “Honey .. you’re grey!”
“I know,” I said.
“You ought to just go to bed,” he declared.
But … there are toys to pickup, dishes to do, etc. etc. etc.
“Shhh,” he said. “We’ll help… and the rest? The rest can wait.”
And he was right.
So I did something I haven’t done since I was about 5th grade … I went to bed on a Sunday night before 8:00 pm … and slept for 11 hours. Me!! The person the family can set their watch to, down for the count. And I was all the better for it.
Above and beyond the physical ramifications, I’ve decided I want to be more mindful of how I expend my energy. Does it really matter that I served a buffet of hot, flavorful choices or that we all had the opportunity to sit together and enjoy ourselves?
And, one more thing, this week, I realized I also want to be more in the moment. In the past, I have spent so much energy looking forward to something that I zipped through it and nearly missed it when it happened. I have been so focused on that delightful horizon – on planning, prepping, arranging and doing that I forget to make allowances for … being.
We are human beings after all (vs. human doings).
~Sigh~
Another reminder that I am still a work in progress. And you? How well do you listen? (to your body and yourself, that is).