Listen.

Listen to your heart.

Listen to your mind.

Listen to your spirit

"I' m done "

" No, your not"

"Yes, I am"

You still have at least three hours before you can be done for the day

"Naw... I'm done right now"

What entity controls you and do you listen?

This was the heated discussion between me and my watch on an October 2021 weekday afternoon. While the fatigue in my body said it was bedtime my watch only read 5 something which much closer to dinner time than bedtime. Did you know there is no universal instrument that measures time? This lack of a universal tool for time measurement is why our watches clocks and calenders all read differently. This lack of a universal tool is why my spirit was telling me it was bedtime and my watch only read 5 pm. I’m a tough one, I persevere and I’m also a good listener, and that my body said listen here…you need to slow it down.

Listen To Your Heart

About six months ago decided to intensify my actions. The quiet life brought on by the pandemic allowed me to better hear my heart's desires. I didn't want to go back to the lifestyle I lived before the pandemic. In an effort to get closer to the lifestyle I wanted to live I added a hefty amount of reading, foreign language study, and exercise to my daily to-do list. Things were going really well until about two months ago when the academic year started.

Listen To Your Mind.

The new academic year meant not only a new teaching course load but also all the other responsibilities that come along with being a tenure track professor. Headaches became a recurring sign of my mind being in overload as I tried to keep up with everything. I'd lived the majority of the last 18 months in sweatpants and from a dining room table, getting dressed to leave out the door for work had become a foreign event, and had to get reacquainted. Not to sound like a spoiled brat complaining about getting dressed I was actually losing time because I was lost in learning what I thought was required of me. In order to get to the new lifestyle, I was taking several mini-courses to learn new skills and my mind was feeling the growing pains.

Listen To Your Spirit

There is a certain level of pain and discomfort that comes along with growth, but I had gone a little beyond that. The fatigue, headaches, and restlessness, were signs that I needed to slow down and take a break. . I was up at 6 am, sleepy by noon, miserably tired by 6 pm, in bed by 8 pm, and then waking up every two hours until 5 am. While worry had kept me waking up every few hours during that 5 am hour I lay there considering why I needed to get up. My spirit wasn't happy and because of that, I was unable to rest. The entity that we call " You" is made up of your heart, mind, body, and spirit and all of them have a very valuable voice. I've been told that we accomplish the most when they are all on the same accord and this October reminded of the importance of a unified effort. In this case, I was reminded that hard work requires also requires some hard resting take a few days of rest from the university and a few weeks of rest from writing. I am happy that I listened to myself rather than pushing through because I feel healthier and happier.

I’m a tough one, I persevere and I’m also a good listener. One day my body said listen here…you need to slow it down. So in October of 2021, I told everyone

I’ll be gone til November…I’ll be gone til November 🎶

( hope you caught that @wyclefjean reference).

In order to be the best me, and offer you the best, I had to take a small break.

In the wise words of me @myad.a :

Listen.

✨Listen to your heart.

✨Listen to your mind.

✨Listen to your spirit

Hope you enjoyed this quick read!

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- Mya