To translate the title of this post: How do you rest (relax)? This is a question that my Intermediate French professor asked me today. After some quick contemplation all I could think to respond was: Je ne me repose pas! (I do not relax!) While this may not be 100% accurate (of course I rest when I’m sleeping) I can honestly say that in the past four weeks I have not really relaxed/rested/chilled out at all. I started school in earnest. I’m taking two classes while still working full-time and trying to keep in shape at the same time. I do homework or study every night and my weekends have been spent sitting on my bed with books all around me trying to absorb a language that will never come naturally and stay attentive to a Women’s Studies class which turned out to be an independent study class. Oh and there is work. Must not forget the hours spent on the weekend prepping reports for Monday. Oh and there’s my daughter who sometimes requires my attention and the 5K I’m still training for. Ugh!
Before I go any further I must make it clear that I’m not complaining. While I am tired and my brain feels fried most of the time I know that I chose to take this on. Working is a necessity and finishing my education is something I have wanted and needed to do for several years. I am of the belief that if you choose to live a certain way or choose to do something you do not get to complain when it gets difficult. So, for the record, I am not whining that I have no time to veg out right now. I am just making a statement of fact. I do not want sympathy or rewards. That is not what this is about.
“So what IS it about?” you ask. It is about finding a balance in life and wondering how other people manage to juggle all they do and still find time to quiet their minds. I find myself in constant multi-task mode. Am I the only one like this? I doubt it. We all have busy lives. We are worker-bees, parents, students, significant others etc. And we are often all those things at once. We have work to do, people who rely on us and people who need love and support from us. We juggle these things and people all day long and hope that nothing and no one gets dropped and hits the ground. It’s exhausting but would we really have it any other way?
My question is…Comment te-tu repose? How do you rest? What do you do (or not do) to calm your mind, recharge your batteries and keep the sanity that is this crazy life? I can honestly say that the time that it has taken me to write these few paragraphs has actually relaxed me. It will be short-lived since when I’m finished writing this in English I will be rewriting a paragraph in my French book from present tense to past tense and the repose will pass. I want to hear how others do it so I challenge you to reply. While this blog is titled On My Mind, I want to know what’s on yours!
On My Mind 
Like Jami, my days are filled with many responsibilities and commitments. I cannot think of a time in the last two years where I had any significant time to veg out and tune out. The most any of us can hope for is about 15 minutes of alone time to think ahead, plan ahead or get ahead of life’s little challenges. My alone time to think of nothing comes in the 20 minutes I have in the car to and from work. Music cranked, window open and nothing but the open road. Or the 15 minutes it takes to walk to the sandwich shop or the 10 minutes on line in the bank or the 5 minutes it takes to fill your car up. Collectively it is probably several hours a week of nothing time but it cannot be done in one sitting.
The challenge for working parents is to train your mind and body make that brief time work for you. The notion that you will spend a few hours sitting on a rock looking at a sunset is just not something in the cards and anybody that thinks that is possible has a very different life. Baby steps, people, it’s the only way.