Hard Working

Just wanted to throw this out there for us to think about today....

How hard do you work in your life?
To make things work? To make relationships work?
To make your body work? To make you career work?

Does all this hard work leave you exhausted? Wanting more? Craving more?
Reaching for something to fill the void or ease your mind?

What would happen if you stopped working so hard today. And just took a lot of deep breaths. And looked outside. And listened to your thoughts. Or called your mom. Or just let yourself be unfinished.

What would happen if we stopped beating ourselves up for all the things we haven't yet done or need to do.
And instead just took a moment. A brief moment. To enjoy the things you have done.

I don't know...just a thought....easy DOES it. :)

Comments

this post made me stop and think today, jess. i just continue to push and push myself to make everything work. i guess i am scared of leeting go and having everything crumble around me. which i know isn't the case but i still worry about it nonethless.

what do you guys think? is it because women are taught to be people pleasers that we try constantly to make everything perfect?

that is such a powerful post...for me i never think about stopping and smelling for the flowers or really enjoying each and every day that i'm Blessed to be here. from the time i wake up i'm going and going and going until the day is over and i'm saying my prayers before i turn in...but i really need to stop!!!! and enjoy each and every moment of my day.... :)

Thank you for the wonderful...powerful and blessful post :) because for now on...i will take the time to enjoy each day and breathe for notice and notice everything around me...especially my family and friends ;-)

You know, at first I gotta admit I was like "blah, blah, blah" when I read your post - it wasn't anything that I heard before. then when I was driving with my little girl today I was talking to my husband on the phone and trying to change the channel for her on the radio and I almost got into an accident by running a stop sign. We were fine but my daugther said to me "Mama, why don't you just go slower."

and i swear to god I started laughing remembering what you wrote this morning and how i wanted to tune it out.

Thank you, Jess, I don't know you well yet but I do know you really taught me a lesson today by planting some seeds that I definitely needed to hear!!

So true! I've always had problems slowing down.

It's actually one of my big goals; I'm starting a yoga class and trying to make more 'me' time (and not feel guilty about it).

I'm 55 and grew up super, super thin. i used to be able to eat anything and everything and I would never gain weight. I had a flat stomach until my 40th birthday. Then poof! Fat and cellulite began popping up everywhere, well around my belly and butt and legs.

I've never been good at sticking to any exercise routine or diet.

I need help. I know I have to do it myself but I hope that this challenge and the support of the blog community and coaches will help me.

I'm 5'4" and weight about 140 where I used to weigh 107 to 113 forever. I would be ridiculously happy to be 125 again. Plus, to feel energetic, toned, and fit. I'm ready!!

I have just joined up for the iLose It for Good Community Challenge commencing January 4th, which happens to be my birthday. As a gift to myself I intend to be an active participant; to finally accomplish a healthy lifestyle, with a healthier eating plan, and improved exercise habits. We all work so hard at nurturing our families, accomplishing education or career goals. We become people who can't say no to others, yet we say no to ourselves all the time...then eventually we pay for it with early aging signs, water retention and that extra twenty pounds that we just can't seem to lose. I, for one, am pleased to be a part of such an innovative idea. I am online every day and can easily take 5 minutes to read your incentives and daily instructions. For the first time in a while I am looking forward to my birthday and I'm looking ahead to a healthier lifestyle. My goal is to look someone square in the eye and boldly say, "No, I'm not 38, I'm 45" ...and be proud of it!

hi jess, i just saw you on the today show over thanksgiving and i wanted to tell you that you really inspire me. i have never seen someone so beautiful and 'normal' looking at the same time. i mean, i don't mean this in a weird way but i totally think you look like people i know and that makes you so much more beautiful and attainable than some of the other super skinny celebrities i see but don't really listen to. you make me want to be a better more thoughtful pereson. thank you!

you are so right! I've often felt that I was happier when I didn't 'have' to do anything, when I just let life run it's course and didn't work to hard on anything. it's only natural to stop and be still sometimes. thank you for helping me remember that!

I'm not sure it's about slowing down so much as it is about admitting that our needs and wants are just as valid as the needs and wants of all the people we feel we are responsible for keeping the world together for.

Thank you for the thoughts, and for the foray into blogging! I'll definitely be back.

I feel more complete when I have many tasks to acomplish. I feel a sense of self worth when I have things that need to get done, ahhh then they are finished, what a wonderful feeling of satisfaction. I have a day of just doing nothing and I feel like I want to scream "give me something to do". Why am I like this, its weird right?

we are taught to believe that doing more equates to something. thank you for bringing up an very important subject. sometimes i look around and see busyness..and wonder if any one of us are happy doing it all?
ahhhhhh...i look at my 10 month old daughter and see the simplicity of just being..without agendas.
its awesome.
you rock jess!

awesome, awesome post!

I think sometimes we work too hard on the wrong things, leaving us too drained to work on the important things that we may have neglected in life...

what needs work for me? my relationship with my daughter...and getting my butt to the gym on a regular basis

I dont feel alone as much with my 'weight' problems after reading these posts.Thanks for the encouragement!
Jess is sooo right.
How many times do you wake up tired for work on monday and you rush through the week without stopping and find yourself on monday again and you think 'where did the week go'?