Filling Your Bucket

Today I want to talk about the 2nd half of what Jenn Williamson spoke about last Friday.  Have you ever heard the phrase all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy?  If you think about the word dull it doesn't just mean boring.  It means lacking sharpness.

When we have a to do list a mile long we have to prioritize our tasks.  Often the last thing on our priority list is ourselves.  We stop taking care of ourselves.  Sleep is sacrificed on the altar of productivity, but more than that we stop doing the things we love to do.

If you have a 40 hour a week job your most favorite thing to look forward to is vacation.  Often times people get back to work after vacation realizing that it could be another year before the next one and groan.  What else happens when you get back from a fun vacation?  Often times you will find yourself more productive for a time.  Unfortunately the trend in this country at least has become to bank your vacation days for the future or if you are not allowed to bank them get the money at the end of the year for them.

Why are we more productive after a vacation?  When you take the time to have some rest and relaxation, when you take the time to have some fun, you recharge your batteries and address the stress that you normally feel.  When you take the time to relax you reduce your cortisol levels and your adrenaline stops pumping you full of false energy.  You increase your endorphins and create sense of well being.

The questions becomes if we are more productive when we take some time out to do the things that we love, why don't we do it more often?  The answer always stated is that we don't have time.

So if we are less productive and more stressed when we stop doing the things we love how is that helping us?  The realization becomes that if we don't take time out for us to play and relax we are going at our work life and our action plans toward our dreams with a dull ax.

This doesn't mean that you reverse the phrase and become all play and no work.  It just means that you take reasonable measures to take care of yourself and do the things you love alongside the things that you are required to do to make a living and take care of your family.

So not only does sharpening your ax mean learning or honing your skills to achieve your dreams, it means that you take time out to do the things that make you smile and be your best self.

Back in pioneer times axes, where sharpened on a rotating grind stone.  This form required you to use water so a full bucket was kept close by to keep the stone wet.  We call this a whet stone.  So in order to sharpen your ax you need to fill your bucket first.