September 2nd, 2011 - Day 55 of 60

After so many weeks of grueling work, the potential for three uninterrupted days of rest (sort of) can be a bit too much for one's psyche.  It is almost as if one needs to be retrained to do nothing.  Granted, with all the work to do around the house in the aftermath of the hurricane, there is plenty to keep me occupied (and then some), but just knowing I don't have to go into the office is a strange feeling.  Now, I've not yet decided if I am going into the office, but the fact is that I don't have to go.  That is the distinction.  It is an important distinction.  There is no end of work to be done, but that fact will ever be.  It is just that the work doesn't have the urgency it did in the weeks leading up to the first day of classes.   The wounds are not spurting blood, just oozing a bit.  They get put back a bit in the triage line.

Sometimes it takes more effort to be kind to yourself than it takes to be thoughtless.  I didn't say the word "cruel" as it may be too shocking for some to take, but that is what occurs when one is thoughtless about one's needs.  We get into rhythms in our work, our relationships, etc. and we don't think about it.  As it relates to my Reboot, I think the rhythm is helpful.  Finding a groove that works for you and lets you easily manage something so healthy and rejuvenating seems wise.  But when you are so used to working around the clock and forgetting why you work in the first place, well, that isn't so good.  No one benefits when someone works themselves into ill health, stress-related mistakes or worse.  There comes a point where you understand that the work will still be there (and perhaps more of it), but if you don't leave it behind in a physical sense and in a mental sense it will get the best of you.  The simple act of taking a day or two off can reap great benefits.  And, really, it isn't as if you are "taking" anything off.  You've earned those days off.  You deserve those days off and more.  You are a human "be-ing", not a human "do-ing".  We work to live, not live to work.  It is easy to forget that when you get into the habit.

This Reboot has been a compressed version of that concept.  It has been a microcosmic "Labor Day Weekend" in the scheme of our lives.  We take a short break from all our labors (eating the wrong foods, not resting, not getting the right sort of exercise, etc.) and allow our body to come to a place where it can heal and revitalize.  In fact, the act of slowing down sometimes gives us a place of quiet we've not had in a very long time.  That quiet gives us the space to really hear what our body is saying.  You know what it is like to be moving so fast you can't even hear what your body or anyone around you is saying, right?  The best we can manage is a nod and a "yeah", as if we actually were listening.

The irony for me is that my Labor Day Weekend is also the last weekend of my Reboot.  Not so much "irony" as " deliciously coincidental".  The sabbatical my body has taken from the labor of mistreatment and thoughtlessness has one more long weekend.  I've considered stretching out my Reboot a little while to allow more time for rest and rejuvenation.  I may or may not do that.  Regardless, it will have to come to an end at some point.  This weekend is the spiritual "last weekend", even if it isn't the last weekend in practice.  I'm also confronted with the idea that my nutritional and biological rest from my typical-American-diet-induced labors can actually end permanently.  I can be embarking upon a perpetual Labor Day Weekend for my body.  That idea excites me to no end.

Three days off from labor is a long time when you are used to working 7 days a week.  But how much better is the idea of never working again?  While we all may need to labor to provide for our material needs, we may no longer need to labor  as it relates to our diet, health and well-being.  This weekend could be the beginning of a lifetime of rest for our bodies.  No more straining to digest too much fatty, processed and protein-heavy foods.  No more struggling to sift through the junk in our systems to find a scrap or two of nutrition.  No more peaks and valleys in blood sugar, weight and energy levels due to refined foods.  No more fighting with addictions to foods whose effects mimic drugs too closely for my comfort.  No more battles, no more dreading the next meal, no more fighting against nature.  Just one long period of well-deserved rest for the weary.

Happy Labor Day weekend!

Progress:

I am 90% through the 60 days.

Weight: 147.2 lbs.

Food: Watermelon, Strawberries, Bananas, Almond Butter, Broccoli Slaw (2x), Raw Cacao Goji Seed Chunks

How I adore thee, beloved Broccoli Slaw.

Look what someone brought in to OUR office today!