Mastering the art of “resting”

Heading into my third week of recovery after my bi-lateral explant surgery, I have discovered the truth about myself:

I am an absolute utter and complete failure at the art of forced “resting”.

Now it’s silly because after sixteen prior surgeries, I understand the importance of physical rest in surgical recovery.

Rest equals healing. Healing equals getting back to life sooner than later.

But rest, true rest, is so much more than just closing my eyes.   It’s about shutting off that internal motor that powers my brain around the clock, creating to-do list after to-do list, until it runs out of gas.

In my recovery, I have support and plenty of it.  But I find myself day after day, night after night, pushing my mind at a fever pace to problem solve, to plan, to create, to design, to negotiate. As the lists in my head grow longer and longer, my stress level mounts.

Does this sound familiar to any of you?

Now you might be thinking I’m talking about not wanting to let go of control of my routine.  I’m am not. 

I truly have no problem letting others take control while I recover from my latest surgery and I am grateful that I have people I can count on to do just that. It is a luxury I know not everyone is blessed with and I do not take it for granted.

But, somewhere in my wiring, I’m not good at shutting off the planning department in my mind: the forward thinking minions racing around in my brain looking ahead.

In other words, I never fully allow myself to live in the moment when I’m just plain ol’ me, with no agenda, nothing to do but rest, physically and mentally.

It’s ridiculous isn’t it?  I mean I know people understand I’m out of commission for a bit and they are doing their very best to help me, expertly in fact.

So why don’t I just let them do their thing and leave the planning department shuttered in my mind while I heal?

Why does my mind race all the time, forever spinning through a growing agenda of imaginary problems and issues and things I should tackle? Why is it so hard for me to accept that shutting down and powering off for a bit isn’t a negative for me?

The other day my husband came home from work and asked if I had rested.  I said, “Yes!  I had a wonderful two hour nap with the cats.” 

I then proceeded to tell him that before that nap with my fur babies, I had scheduled window cleaners, household painters, tree trimmers, sorted through some paperwork my occupational therapist needed, had a friend over, texted with my parents and my brother and one of my kids and worked on my blog. 

He looked at me like I was …Well, let’s just leave it that he looked at me funny, shook his head and began to make dinner for us and a martini for himself! I honestly don’t blame him. What’s wrong with me?

Just as an aside, my husband is rock solid when it comes to housework and cooking and any honey-do projects.  We are a team and when one of the team is down, the other team member steps up to the plate without asking. It’s worked for thirty-one years and so why I felt the need to push through an agenda of projects that would make the Property Brothers on HGTV sweat and my husband need a martini, I have no idea.

Later that evening, as my husband and I finished the absolutely amazing meal he had prepared, suddenly the weight of all I had done during the day began to feel like an anvil on my shoulders. 

Yes, I had physically rested, had napped. But mentally, I hadn’t rested at all.

Uncertainty about whether or not I was going to be able to follow through on all I had scheduled, all I had planned, all of my forward thinking, was like an anchor around my neck, slowly pulling me into the abyss. 

I began to cry. I cried as if a dam were breaking and it hit me that to fully recover from this surgery,  I had to let go of this idea in my head that just because a part of me is on mandated rest, I needed to activate, full throttle, all of my other abilities, specifically my mind,  to compensate.  

No one is asking this of me, so why am I asking this of myself?

My wonderful husband pulled me close and told me not to worry. 

“Everything is going to be o.k.!”

He also reminded me that I’ve been through a lot in the past three years and that it was perfectly fine for me to check out of the “agenda in my mind” while I recover.

Life would go on whether we painted the interior of the house, had dirty windows or an overgrown tree.  He’s right.

I need to figure out a better way to push the pause button in my mind completely.  I need to give myself the gift of healing not only physically, but mentally, emotionally and in all ways that matter. 

Well, I’d like to say that I cancelled all of the honey-do projects, but I didn’t.  The window cleaners have come and gone. The tree trimmer is scheduled to show up on Friday and as I write this, I’ve been sealed in my office by plastic and painter’s tape. The painters assured me they would let me out in five to seven minutes after they get the ceiling outside of my office painted.

It’s now been 45 minutes! 

Damn, I really do need to pull the plug in my mind, power off and embrace my faulty wiring, let life go on for a bit without my input.   Then maybe, I’ll be able to say truthfully that I’ve finally mastered the art of “resting!”

“Hey Painters, it’s getting hot in here!” 

“Guys…c’mon guys…anyone there???…Hello???”

PositivelyAnne

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