Relaxation is difficult for many people as our lives are chock full of “To Do” Lists, emails, ideas, worries, meetings, and more things to do. When we do get down time, we find that it is difficult to truly relax. Our days are usually so busy that our bodies and minds are not trained to slow down. We are reeling in a review of the past or thinking about the future. To be in the now is not easy.
My husband especially has a challenging time relaxing. After reading his emails at night he claims he is relaxing by reading the news online. The news, I say might be informative, but I find it hard to believe it is relaxing.
One evening as my daughter and
I were reading our own thick novels in bed, all snuggled up, my husband walked in the room and looked at us with envy. He plopped down with his newspaper and The Economist when he said,
"You both look so relaxed.”
My daughter in all earnestness said, “Papa, you know what you need to get relaxed?”
“No," he said, "What?” “You need your very own library card”
We both looked at each other trying not to laugh. “Really, tell me more.” He responded.
“If you have your own library card, you can go to the library and take out 20 books and
put them in a basket by your bed, like I do. If you don’t like one, you have another to choose from.
If you read a good book, Papa, I promise you will be relaxed to, just like Maman and me.”
How wise she was. A good book, a really good book is a ticket to immediate relaxation. It’s free (at the library), easily accessible, and takes you away to another world. Different than TV or a DVD a book can actually relax you and allow you to become immersed in another world. It's not someone else's images you are watching, but what you see and hear with your own imagination.
In the ancient city of Thebes, inscripted over the library are the following words, “Medicine for the soul.”
And is that not what relaxation is all about, feeding the soul, healing the soul, and regaining energy to
move back into the world we live in.
So, if you don’t have one now, walk to your nearest library and ask for your very own library card.
And why you are there check out an armful of books (after all it is free and not many great things
are these days).
Each night when you want to relax after work, pick up the book and feed your soul and if you have
someone snuggling next to you while doing so, it’s even better!
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