Make Hay While the Sun Shines
I’m soaking up some vacation time this week and enjoying the land around us, with sun shining on the forests and lakes and farm fields stretched out for miles. Some is restful, and some is invigorating and adventurous. And some, despite the importance of switching off, some of it is ebbing and flowing around work.
We know that neurology and biology and other -ologies benefit from downtime and freedom for other things. Our minds heal and settle with weekends and vacation. So why the heck am I working at all?
If you’ve done work with de-stressing, or meditation, or living in the moment, you’ll know that in the meditation practice, our thoughts bubble up and we’re to notice them and let them go… floating away. Then we settle again.
And sometimes it turns out that in the freed-up mind, rested after times of stress, our brains are refreshed, and instead of rest, something new happens. Our brains are buzzing a bit more, making new connections, or unblocking obstacles. And our brains tune into what is motivating some actions or was holding back others.
So consider this… a thought about work bubbles up, Do you scold yourself and get frustrated? Or calmly notice it and let it float away?
And then if it hangs there, with a particular glimmer of something new - a new approach, a new perspective, and you notice some energy around it, perhaps it is worth returning to and working on for awhile. That is the backwards gift of rest, though it might seem ill-timed.
The key is still vacation, it is still to rest and refresh, until your energy returns and your passion too. Until the ideas glimmer again and the motivations are healthy and fresh. Even if you’re self-employed and vacation is a laughable dream, or you work weekends or time off is filled with activity: downtime and rest is still a key- moments, activities, choices that streamline busy life into recharging rhythms.
The old farming line: Make hay while the sun shines, means to grab the abundance of work and purpose and our gifts when we can and make the best of them. The phrase gives us freedom to lean in during busy times of life and come through exhilarated. It frees us to tidy up tasks as they bubble up in our rest times, for peace of mind and satisfaction. Then let yourself settle down again, freed up to turn again to restful things, the hay gathered and ready for winter.
“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the blue sky, is by no means a waste of time.” ~john Lubbock, “Recreation,” The Use of Life, 1894.
So first, go rest. You’ll be better for it. Keep a notebook nearby for pesky work thoughts or stress situations and if something glimmers with fresh ideas, take 5 minutes to give it closer thought. Then you’ll know if it you’d like to give it more time (after kids go to bed, or before you head out for hiking.). Maybe all it needed was a few minutes, a quick email, or some scribbled thoughts. Then close the book, enjoy your sense of choice and accomplishment, and settle back into the rhythm of time off.
Are you feeling bad about being preoccupied by work during family time or time away?? Are you desperately hoping somehow to never return to work again? Sounds like a tune-up would help on the motivations you’re feeling or wish you felt, and the life you’re creating…. A conversation might help so you’re revived in your talent and drive, and your experience of life.