S and I were sitting on the back porch last week, watching the sunset, and I was again struck by how quiet it was – just the birds, the wind in the leaves, and the occasional car from the nearest main road, which is a good half-mile away as the crow flies. Nothing like our old house, where we lived close to the intersection of two main roads, with a regional airport only a couple of miles away (and our house happened to be directly in the flight path for planes coming from or heading to the west). Now things are definitely more my style. Though to clarify, I like the birds until about 5 in the morning.
We’ve talked several times this year about needing to take more time to relax and just enjoy the fruits of our labor, and I totally agree, but it’s also very difficult when I know I have a lot of projects to do, a short window of nice weather in which to do them, a full-time job, and a child that takes up all but about two of our potential working hours each day. I’d love nothing more than to just sit on the porch with my wife and a good book, but the call to get things done usually wins out. My excuse always seems to be “well let me just finish this last little thing up,” which I do, but then there’s always one more last little thing to finish, and I end up burned out.
Since I suppose that there will always be “just one more thing” to do, I’ve decided to try to take at least one evening a week, and just relax. Forget about my always-growing project list, and just enjoy what we have. We’re very blessed to be living where we are, in the house we have, with each other, and we (or at least I) need to spend more time just appreciating that, and not getting so worked up over what needs to be done. (And “needs” is probably going too far – some things need to be done, like making dinner, but weeding or digging a hole could probably stand to wait a day or two.)
What’s your favorite way to relax? Do you get to do it much?
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