I believe animals are one of life’s great teachers and have a lot to teach us about rest.
When under the ideal situations animals:
Eat when they are hungry
Drink when thirsty
Play when playful
Hunt when needed
Rest when they are tired
Do you allow yourself to rest when tired?
When I say “rest” I don’t necessarily mean sleep, I mean take time for yourself in whatever way fuels your soul or simply just sit and take it easy to recharge.
Most of us have busy lives! Between work, family, friends and commitments it can be hard to find time for ourselves but there was something I was forced to realize that really put things into perspective.
Here’s the thing- animals fulfill their needs but don’t expend themselves so much in one area that they are not able to function in the others. For example, they don’t hunt so much that they are unable to rest or play so much they are unable to hunt.
Why do we take on so much and not take time for ourselves?
I think half of it has to do with how society tells us to be and the other half is our own expectations of ourselves. We set so many expectations for ourselves in every part of our lives, it seems except for rest and reconnecting. This is something I feel needs to reevaluated.
Rest when tired or the universe will do it for you
My most recent life lesson about rest is how if you don’t rest when you’re tired, the universe may force you to do it. Let me explain.
In the month of January, everyone around me got really sick with colds, many of them stayed home and had to rest. I got a little sick but pushed through, at this same time I think I was also very effected by the blood wolf moon. I was exhausted, didn’t feel myself and needed more rest but I pushed on. I mainly push through and ignore my needs to rest because of work and friend commitments that I would feel guilty about cancelling or rescheduling.
Fast forward to February, I was actually feeling a lot better and things were getting back to normal. On the first my work day was going great, I was in a good mood, the van was working and I was on schedule to being off early. Then suddenly, all the power went out in my mobile grooming van while I was in the middle of grooming a dog! Not great but usually it’s just a simple breaker flip and I’m good to go, this time it wasn’t just that.
Long story short it’s a bigger problem than just flipping a breaker and all of the places that are able to fix it are super backed up with work. I was also advised not to plug in to peoples houses for appointments as it could damage the van more or their electric. What this means is that I cannot work.
The universe is forcing me to take time for myself and rest or depending how I choose to view it, blessing me.
What I realized
In january, I didn’t rest, I didn’t honor how I was feeling. Even if I did get more sick, I know me and I would have pushed through until I couldnt stand. I believe sometimes we get sick as a physical and mental reboot, a chance for us to finally rest.
The issues with my work van are forcing me to rest, I have no other choice, I can’t just push through.
(I actually started writing on this topic a couple weeks ago but it got put off, clearly for a reason as I now have so much personal insight.)
Am I worried about the loss of income? Honestly, on and off yes but I know it is also a blessing and part of a totally different lesson I need to embrace and learn!
In Conclusion
As I spend the week at home alone with my dogs, I have observed them. They eat when they’re hungry, play when in the mood, drink when thirsty and rest when tired.
I have allowed myself to rest, to do things that fuel my soul and try my best not to feel guilty about rescheduling clients as it is out of my control.
So maybe its time that we look to our pets and try our best to slow down a little, in whatever way we can and allow ourselves to rest.
-Savana
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