Make Today Better With This Simple Reminder

I’m not sure I have an introduction that will adequately introduce foster #10 nor display the massive heart he has for any human that comes near him. So for lack of better words and a very anticlimactic start to a post, meet Henry.  Henry the Great.

Henry came to Found Nation Animal Rescue because he was “aggressive” and had gotten in an altercation with another dog.  (Turns out he simply didn’t know he was 120lbs and bigger than most dogs.) He had one week to find another home, or was going to have to be put down.  The evening after the news of this sweet pup traveled through our organization, the great dane was headed this way.

After arriving, Henry paced anxiously through the apartment; his head grazing just above the height of the kitchen counters.  My roommate and I got a good chuckle out of it as we were left with Henry, his bed as big as mine and the barn size crate that sat in the middle of our entryway.  It was the kind of chuckle that communicated “What did we get ourselves into?” as we sat quietly and seemingly paralyzed watching this small horse settle in.

It wouldn’t take long for this big boy to settle into both the apartment or my heart.   The timing of this foster coincided with me leaving my job to pursue starting Top Wellness Solution – something that I had thought about for years, but until March 2018, couldn’t seem to muster up the courage to do.  This meant, Henry and I would have  A LOT of time together and would both be experiencing much change in our worlds.  (This also means I could publish a book on the month and half we shared, but for the sake of you still wanting to read, don’t worry, I narrowed it down to one big lesson I’ll always be grateful Henry opened my eyes to.)

That lesson? Rest. Rest often.

In a world that is constantly asking us to work more, do more, be more, rest can quickly adapt a negative connotation.  When we take a moment to breath, many times it sends our minds racing.  What is it we are forgetting to do?  What planning isn’t getting done?  Are there items on the to-do list that need to get done that aren’t?  What about all those e-mails that didn’t get replied to today?  Rarely do we sit down, enjoy it, and realize rest is essential to productivity, recovery, and relationships.

Henry never forgot a nap.  Not even once.  He would take each nap and then was able to be 100% present for each walk, each greeting of someone new, each meal time.

It wasn’t until a friend said jokingly “I wish I had Henry’s life.  Exercise. Eat. Rest”  that I realized that I was forgetting to do one those essential three, daily.  I was forgetting to rest.  There always seemed to be another project that needed working on, another workout that needed completing, another item that I could work on to set myself ahead.

I wanted to be like Henry boy.  I wanted to be 100% present in the moment I was given right now.  This task impossible without rest.  We don’t expect our car to run without refilling the gas tank, why do we expect our bodies to keep up with us when we don’t take time to refuel?

Give yourself permission to rest.  You aren’t putting off anything that won’t be there when you’re done.  The added boost of energy will allow you to pour more attention into the here and now, leaving you feeling refreshed and less stressed.