Sometimes You Just Need a Weekend

There is virtue in work and there is virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither. ~ Alan Cohen

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve detailed that I’ve been struggling a bit lately. That doesn’t mean I’ve been sitting idly by and focusing on it. I go to work of course and then the gym and then I come home and work on my other job. That job of course is as a combination writer, blogger, brand developer and marketer for my book, have I mentioned I have a book for sale, Appalachian Trail Happiness, it’s getting good reviews you should pick up a copy. These many hats I possess eat up most of my days and weekends, particularly as I’m ramping up for my Havasu Falls trip and hiking more on the weekends.

So the fact is I’ve been really busy, I’ve had little to no downtime at all. This weekend the plan was to do my first full weight hike in preparation for the trip. I planned on getting up early Saturday morning and doing an 8 mile round trip with about 30 pounds on my back. Then Sunday would be my standard Sunday gym workout weightlifting (legs) and 4o minutes of cardio. But on Friday no less than 3 people asked me if I was ok, or why I was so low energy. I wrapped up my Friday gym workout and started to think about my morning hike. The more I thought about it, the less I was excited about it, the idea of losing an hour of sleep to the time change didn’t help either.

So, I did what I usually do and I listened to my body. I was tired, I’ve been working hard at the gym for the last few weeks and it was time to take a break. It wasn’t just physically time for a break, but I needed a mental break as well. I’ve had too many things flying around in my brain, too many little things nagging at my brain. What I’ve been describing as death by papercuts. So Friday night I goofed off and watched a couple of movies. Saturday I went in and did some grocery shopping including picking up a corned beef to make some corned beef and cabbage.

What I really spent Saturday and Sunday doing was decluttering my brain. So I addressed all of the little things that were floating around in my head. I straightened up the house, put away the laundry, all the way down to lining up my shoes. I went through piles of papers and boxes yet to have been unpacked since I moved in. I separated some coins and organized them. I cleaned up my fireplaces and stacked the last of the wood I have inside the house on the off chance that there is one last cool night before the summer heat comes in full blast.

I took some time to get my gear ready for my Havasu Falls trip. I aired out my equipment and hung my hammock as a test hang and to remind myself how to do it, it’s been awhile. It all went up quite well and so I decided to take a little rest in the hammock in the sun. That’s when the set up slipped loose and I dropped to the ground. The only thing I bruised was my ego, I’m committed to the rule of never hanging higher than I’m willing to fall. It was a good learning experience, it reminded me of a step I’d not taken in assembling the rigging. I also spent some time reading about the hike and the site and figuring out exactly what gear I’d need. My new point and shoot was also delivered and I’m excited about trying it out and bringing it on the trip.

Havasu Falls

The happiness lesson for this weekend was that sometimes you just need to stop. You need to take a break from all of the things you’re trying to accomplish to just take care of all of the little stuff. Get the slate cleaned up so that you can better focus on the important things. Cooking is always a good exercise for getting things right. Clearing my head was good, I realize I’m itching to make some changes. I’ll be moving in a couple of months, there are some new opportunities on the horizons. Life is good, rest helped, cooking helped and a few plates of really good corned beef and cabbage surely didn’t hurt.
~ Rev Kane