3661: Permission To Rest AND Extraordinary Love by Angelina Lee of Exploring Plan Be on Self-Care Advice

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00] Before we start, I want to share a super powerful practice I use called NSDR or Non-Sleep Deep Rest. In just about 10 minutes or so, this Yoga Nidra practice leaves you feeling as refreshed as after a nap without actually sleeping. Experience it for yourself on our guided podcast. Search NSDR and look for the one from Optimal Living Daily.

[00:00:23] [SPEAKER_00] Before we start, please check out our new podcast, Good Sleep. Have you ever noticed how a calm mind can really set the stage for a good night's sleep? That's the idea behind our new podcast, Good Sleep. Greg, our host from Optimal Relationships Daily is here to help ease you into a peaceful night's rest with some positive affirmations. And these affirmations aren't just comforting, they can help ease anxiety and nurture positive thoughts, setting you up for true good sleep.

[00:00:49] [SPEAKER_00] So press play on Good Sleep tonight because a good tomorrow starts with a good night's sleep. Just search for Good Sleep in your podcast app and be sure to pick the one from Optimal Living Daily. This is Optimal Living Daily, Permission to Rest and Extraordinary Love, both by Angelina Lee of ExploringPlanB.com and I'm Justin Malik.

[00:01:13] [SPEAKER_00] Happy middle of the week Wednesday and welcome to Optimal Living Daily or OLD, one of a few shows where we read articles to you. Today, two articles actually, so with that, let's get right to them as we optimize your life. Permission to Rest by Angelina Lee of ExploringPlanB.com There's been a nasty bug going around for the last two weeks and one by one, my little loves have gotten sick.

[00:01:43] [SPEAKER_00] My eldest hardly ever gets ill, but for some reason he was hit the worst and spent almost a week home from school. A few days in, I noticed that although his symptoms were improving, he was still super exhausted. Unnaturally exhausted. Sure, his body had been through a lot, but I started to get concerned that someone who was getting so much rest could still be so tired. One day, while checking in on him, I noticed a pained look on his face.

[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_00] What's the matter? I asked. You look like something's bothering you. He opened up immediately and began to complain about an assignment that had been posted online for his class. He then started to share that he didn't feel like he had the energy to do it and that he had been thinking about it constantly for a few days. I could see in his face how upset he was about the whole thing. I recognized the pattern immediately.

[00:02:35] [SPEAKER_00] His body was still recovering from an awful sickness and yet, instead of allowing himself to rest fully and to recover completely, his mind had been racing on end about all that he had to do. I can totally relate. I decided to share with him a concept that I wish I had learned much earlier. Just because your body is lying down doesn't mean that you're resting.

[00:03:00] [SPEAKER_00] I explained to him that there are many different types of rest and that getting the rest that we need in one area doesn't mean that we'll be fully rested in others. Sure, his body was well rested from the few days of lying down, but his mind was operating on overdrive. No wonder he was so exhausted. I thought about my own relationship to rest over the years and about how really understanding this concept has opened me up to rest in ways that I had never considered before. Maybe you've experienced this too.

[00:03:30] [SPEAKER_00] That by all accounts, you shouldn't be so tired because you're sitting or lying down or even napping, but your mind is racing. Your heart is pounding. Your imagination is soaring. Your thoughts are swirling. And you just can't understand why you are so, so tired. I offered him a suggestion. What if you just decided right now that you're not going to tackle the assignment until this afternoon?

[00:03:57] [SPEAKER_00] I could see the wheels turning in his head as he contemplated what I was saying. And what if, I continued, you trusted yourself enough to know that you will get to it at a set time once you've allowed yourself to take the morning off? I could do that, came his reply. Permission to rest. That's what it took for him. That's what it takes for us. Not just to lie down, not just to have a seat, not just to take it slower or easier or lighter,

[00:04:25] [SPEAKER_00] but to truly, fully, completely rest. To allow ourselves to quiet the mind. To permit ourselves to settle the nerves. To trust ourselves enough to know that we will do the things that need to get done at a decided time after we tend to the most important, most life-giving, most sacred parts of us that need stillness, that need peace, that need rest. What does it take?

[00:04:50] [SPEAKER_00] It takes awareness, recognizing that we have a need for rest and recovery. It takes compassion, ensuring that we get the rest we need without guilt and without shame. It takes intention, deciding that sometimes rest is the most productive thing that we can do. And it takes permission, allowing ourselves to rest fully, to rest completely, and to rest meaningfully.

[00:05:16] [SPEAKER_00] After all, worrying while lying down is just burning energy in a different way. What about you? Do you find yourself unable to quiet the chatter and to tame the to-do list? Do you battle with feelings of guilt or shame whenever you try to take a much-needed break? Do you sometimes wake up from a full night's sleep feeling even more tired than when you went to bed? If so, know that you are not alone.

[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_00] And know that true, meaningful restoration is within reach if only we give ourselves the permission to rest. Extraordinary Love by Angelina Lee of ExploringPlanB.com There I was, right in the middle of what I can now say was one of the hardest times in my life. We were so far away from loved ones who were trying their best to manage a crisis of unfathomable proportions,

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_00] and there was no possible way for us to be present with them. As a family, we were collectively believing for the miraculous, while physically being separated and feeling the distance of each mile that stood between us. On one of those days when life felt like it was suspended in eternal limbo, a loved one who knew what I was going through called me on the phone. I have something for you, she said excitedly. I was in the grocery, and guess what I found? I smiled immediately knowing what she was talking about.

[00:06:42] [SPEAKER_00] I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but there's something about chocolate-covered raisins that I just can't get enough of. Unfortunately, the popular brand that I love is often hard to find where we live, and when we do manage to find it, it's quite pricey. I therefore usually settle for enjoying them when I'm away, or if someone is kind enough to think of me when they travel. I remember the feeling I had when my loved one dropped the pack of sweet goodness to my home. Holding a small handful of the treats in my palm,

[00:07:11] [SPEAKER_00] I felt seen. I felt cared for. I felt loved. My loved one knew the magnitude of the crisis we were in, and she understood that there was nothing that she could do to help to resolve it, but she knew that she could show up. She could show that she was thinking of me. She could show that she cared. And in that moment, I felt love in its purest form. The simple chocolate-covered raisins represented more than just a sweet snack. They were a lesson.

[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_00] That extending help to loved ones in crisis is more accessible than we think. That showing up for someone in a meaningful way takes many forms, and most importantly, that extraordinary love often looks very ordinary. It's easy to get carried away with grand gestures of love, or to feel lonely when we look around us and we notice the lack thereof. But I've come to learn that the grandness of a gesture has nothing to do with

[00:08:09] [SPEAKER_00] the depth or the sincerity of the love. Just like a little handful of chocolate-covered raisins in the middle of a crisis, extraordinary love often takes more ordinary forms. Extraordinary love looks like empty hands that reach out anyway. Extraordinary love looks like presence, attention, and time, even though there is so much more that needs to be done. Extraordinary love looks like being able to show up just as we are,

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_00] and being assured that that is enough. Feels like chocolate-covered raisins in a tired palm. It sounds like, I saw this, and I thought of you. It looks less like grand gestures on a designated day, and more like living love in small ways every day. May we live love in small ways every day. And may we always appreciate the extraordinary love hidden within the ordinary.

[00:09:09] [SPEAKER_00] You just listened to the post titled Permission to Rest and Extraordinary Love, both by Angelina Lee of exploringplanb.com. And I'll be right back with my commentary.

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[00:10:20] [SPEAKER_00] Thank you to Angelina. Feels like the theme between both of these articles is that simple, intentional acts can have such a huge impact on our well-being. With rest, I can definitely relate to this. I can be lying down. But if I'm checking emails or even just looking at my phone, I think, I'm not quite sure that qualifies as rest for me. Maybe it does for you. But I think I'm in that on mode if I'm looking at my phone.

[00:10:48] [SPEAKER_00] And I think that comes with the territory of running your own business. But on the other hand, I could be stressed or my mind won't shut off. And then sometimes I'll get a message from a listener with some appreciation or saying how an episode helps them. That's a pretty simple gesture, I think. But in that moment, it can feel like a lot more than that for me. So some nice reminders from Angelina today. Remember to be kind to yourself and give yourself that permission to get real rest.

[00:11:18] [SPEAKER_00] And also don't underestimate how a small, ordinary act of showing up for someone else might be exactly what they need today. And with that, thank you for showing up here to listen to this episode. I couldn't do it without you. Hope you're having a great middle of the week. Thank you for being here and I'll see you tomorrow, where your optimal life awaits.