Happiness is Honoring Your Limits

Limits, you ask? Why in the world am I talking about honoring limits when I have written at length about being limitless?

Perhaps it was sitting in jury duty recently for a DUI case (for which I was not selected as a juror). Or perhaps it was coming back from my annual writing conference with thousands of other writers.

Let’s face it. The body has its limits. It’s the sensing mechanism of our moods, our energy levels, even our own toxicity as in the case of the DUI I just noted.

We are unlimited in the mind. Yes, unlimited. There isn’t anything we can’t do or perceive or imagine in the mind. So too are our emotions. We can love and feel joy without any limits. And our spirit, well, if you have ever prayed or meditated or just taken a moment to appreciate the sacred, you know there are no limits there too.

But the body? Well, I treat mine as a sacred vessel now after all of the poor hardships it experienced for many years. This week I ran smack dab into the brick wall of reality. I was exhausted after non-stop workshops, parties, and late-night chats with girlfriends. The brain was also over-loaded, crammed with all sorts of goodies from the workshops. Like unpacking a bag when you come home from a trip, I needed to unpack my mind, my body, my emotions—even my spirit.

I wanted to start writing the new book right away when I returned. How often have we heard that the mind is willing but the body…

For a long time, I didn’t listen to my body. I didn’t honor its limits. I ignored them, denied them, ran away from them. Heck I even pretended that I didn’t know about them. And it all caught up with me.

Is any of this sounding familiar?

So I had to take a break this week. Lighten up my schedule to re-energize. And while I am not completely restored yet, able to do cartwheels without grim resignation, I am getting closer.

Happiness is honoring our limits.

What are your limits? Do you listen to your body when it sounds the alerts? Like falling asleep on the way to work—as you are driving—or not being able to concentrate in a meeting or even remember what your spouse or kids just said to you?

When we take care of ourselves and listen to those limits, we honor the sacred in each of us. I had to ask myself the last few days, does this task really need to be done today or this week? Can I shift anything to next week? Will the world end if I don’t do this task just this minute?

When your body is giving you a nice smack in the face about your limits, don’t ignore it. Take that nap. Sit for a moment. Go to bed earlier. Put off doing the laundry or even cleaning up the kitchen. Order take-out.

Honor your limits. When you do, you honor yourself.

You’ll find you’re a heck of a lot happier.

 

Image courtesy of Sura Nualpradid / FreeDigitalPhotos.net