#LessonsLearned: Sometimes it’s ok to sit down

A while back I read this article a friend posted on Facebook about bikram yoga and how sometimes it’s ok to sit down during your practice. It talked about how sitting down doesn’t make you weak, it makes you strong and brave and a myriad of other important things and it got me thinking…. That viewpoint can apply to life as well. 

 

I am not saying sometimes it’s ok to kill yourself or anything like that. What I am saying is that sometimes, it’s ok to sit out from something in life. Sit out from a meeting; sit out from an event; sit out from an argument… Just sit down. 

I was reminded of this concept yesterday, when after three amazing days @ DrupalGovCon I went to see Garbage at WolfTrap as part of their summer concert series. My best friend LOVES garbage and it used to be one of our most listened to bands back in the 90s in her little honda crx, right up there with incubus, green day, and a myriad of other bands that people have heard of but may not listen to anymore.

Breif Aside: you may remember me saying in my last post that I haven’t been able to plan anything in over a year for more than a week out, so I am getting my feet wet again with this whole planning thing… and so far it has been hit and miss. hehehe. 

Ok, back to the story at hand. I spent 3 amazing days (July 31-Aug2) up at NIH, hanging out with some of the best people I know (considerate, caring, passionate, enthusiastic, smart, knowledgable) at drupalgovcon. We had speakers come from all over to present and talk and keynote and I learned a ton! AND had a blast! But at the end of all of that mostly-polite people-ing (for me), emotionally I was spent. On Aug 3, Rachel and I had tickets to go see garbage. We met one of Rachel’s friends there and we set up on the lawn! We had a good spot, but I was not in any state emotionally to interact with people and so I rallied hard. Which worked… for all of 2 hours and then it went downhill from there. Some chick decided we were going to argue and I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to not engage…. because I was just spent. Totally sober, but spent. <sigh>

Anyway, we argued and then I sat in misery for the rest of the show (another hour+). Thankfully though, my best friend likes to hang out with me regardless of my mood (although I imagine she’d prefer me to be happy LOL), and I didn’t ruin the show for her (which I was worried about)! All good things despite my personal outcome.

BUT

what I learned and ultimately wanted to pass along to you all was that if you know you have limits on people-ing, you need to take a break. Schedule yourself a complete day off with no responsibilities or even if it is getting back to routine as usual, make it so that it is a WHOLE DAY of routine, not just go to work then go out. This is such a valuable lesson and it would save many people from many altercations they otherwise would not have…<sigh>

So whole point is, it is OK to sit down. It is ok to step out and give yourself a break. Chances are, that by the time you REALIZE you NEED a break, it’s too late and WAY past the time that you actually need a break. YOUR mental health is more important than one more evening out. Give yourself license to cancel plans and things if you have spent the last x days overloading yourself. From now on, I plan to take my own advice and:

 

Overview of the awesome that came out of drupalgovcon for me, will be in the next post! Stay tuned!

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