Relaxation, It's a Curious Thing...At Least for Me (Wait that's the first "sentence", and this title is long!)

Relaxation is a curious thing, at least for me. For example, just before some “long” break arrives, that is all I can wait for, a little time to relax. Yet as the break draws to an end, I can hardly wait to get back to “life” and back to the routine of school, work, etc. And when I start back into the routine, I almost feel guilty because it seems I had been doing absolutely nothing. I wish I had actually done something productive or worthwhile while I was “relaxing.” Maybe, though, I really don’t know how or what relaxing means. To me, it seems like in order to relax, it has to be a long period of time. A day or so hardly seems like enough time to unwind from a busy semester (or part of the semester when Spring Break is concerned). And also, relaxation has seemed to me to mean essentially doing nothing.

However, like I said, I think my definition of relaxation is a bit off. According to the dictionary, relaxation is a form of activity that provides a change and relief from effort, work, or tension, and gives pleasure. It can also mean a lessening of something that was previously intense. When I look at this, the first thing that jumps out to me is the word activity. So relaxation is a form of activity, one that provides change, relief, and pleasure.

Looking back over the past few years, I have come to realize that at the end of the day, the days I feel the best after are the ones that I have been the most busy or rather the most productive. The day itself may have been stressful, but it is a good feeling when I’ve accomplish something or completed/done something that is challenging or what I consider beyond my means. (Which when I think about it, even unproductive, busy days feel better than days I have absolutely nothing to do. This is especially true at work.)

So when I combine these two thoughts on, relaxation and busy/productive days, I see that maybe my days of relaxation should be “filled” which activities. The other component of relaxation is where it says relaxation should give pleasure. So these activities should be things that I enjoy doing that bring about change and relief. Perhaps this should exactly include being busy, but include projects or things I have been wanting to work on for a while but haven’t had time. And this relaxation can happen for just a day or two or part of a day. It doesn’t need to be for weeks at a time. (And especially looking at life after school, that is what relaxation is going to have to be…no more summer and winter break or even Spring Break for that matter.) I have just come to realize that being lazy all day, waking up at noon or later is just not too attractive to me anymore. It feels nice at the time, but later on, I begin to regret it. And some of this goes back to just not being as selfish with my time and trying to use it to please God, for His kingdom.

(I have a feeling I am suppose to be writing about my Core on this blog a bit too. “Next week” I will try to do just that!)