Why is it so difficult to relax? Can we resist the urge to be constantly productive?
Work deadlines must be met. Invoices to be paid. Shopping lists. Laundry and cleaning the house. Walking the dogs and maybe even looking after the children. There's always something to do on the endless to-do list. It has become almost impossible to switch off the brain and relaxation has become a meaningless word. We constantly have to fight the little voice in our head telling us that we should be productive, that the time to switch off has not yet come, not until we have hung the washing out to dry, fixed the dripping tap, tidied up all the pictures in the living room or completed the last task. It's a shame that this last task doesn't exist. There will always be another one. Why do we find it so difficult to rest? Why do we feel obliged to justify ourselves to others and even to ourselves when we take a break? Why does it seem acceptable for us to only do this when we are dangerously exhausted?
We are slaves to the "more is always better" approach
In our capitalist society, there is constant pressure to always be productive, efficient and active. Those who stop are lost. That's why we no longer know how to pause, live in the moment and celebrate what we have achieved. We have internalised the message that resting is not a good thing. We live in a state of constant stress because being busy all the time is not sustainable. When we are busy, caught up in our careers or in the daily grind, adrenaline drives us and causes a state of excitement that is almost like doping. The problem is that none of us can sustain this pace and pressure for long. If we don't stop, we run the risk of burnout, physical or mental breakdown, or both.
Relaxation and holidays
This flawless staging, in which relaxation itself becomes a performance, appears even more insidious and deceptive with the arrival of the festive season. In theory at least, Christmas, New Year's Eve and Boxing Day are days off when many of us have the opportunity to take a holiday. But how many of us will really be able to take time for ourselves? How many of us will have the courage to put our own wellbeing first? To be sad, happy, tired, bored or whatever emotion or state of mind we are experiencing? Probably too many of us will choose to put family first, the need to look happy and festive on Instagram, the guilt we feel about make dinner, presents and smiles. What if we were to say enough is enough? Would the world come apart at the seams?
