05th March, 2023
What does it mean to relax? Despite hearing this term thousands of times during the course of our lives, very few people have deeply considered what it’s really about.
Relaxing according to the dictionary, means ‘to become lax, weak, or loose, to rest or to become less intense or severe.’
When you ask people, which I do often, what it means to relax?
Most will answer in a way that suggests that relaxing is something you plan to do later – you do it on vacation, in a hammock, when you retire, or when you get everything done.
This implies, of course, that most other times, the other 95 percent of your life, should be spent nervous, agitated, rushed, and frenzied.
Very few actually come out and say so, but isn’t this the obvious implication.
Could this explain why so many of us operate as if life were one great big emergency?
Most of us postpone relaxation until our “in basket” is empty.
Of course it never is.
It’s useful to think of relaxation as a quality of heart that you can access on a regular basis rather than something reserved for some later time.
You can relax now. It’s helpful to remember that relaxed people can still be superachievers and, in fact, that relaxation and creativity go hand in hand.
When I’m feeling uptight, for example, I don’t even try to write. But when I feel relaxed, my writing flows quickly and easily.
Though, reading definitely helps me relax but the genre of my reading may change with my mood.
Being more relaxed involves training yourself to respond differently to the dramas of life; turning your melodrama into a mellow-drama.
It comes, in part, from reminding yourself over and over again that you have a choice in how you respond to life.
You can learn to relate to your thinking as well as your circumstances in new ways. With practice, making these choices will translate into a more relaxed self.
Meditation, morning walks, sitting on my favourite bench in the park, browsing in a book store, listening to melodies, are some of the choices which helps me relax.
This Sunday, identify your preference to help you relax and stay blessed forever.