The Price I Pay to Relax

 

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t relax as much as I should. The odd times I go to yoga, I’m going through a list of things to do in my head once the yoga class is finished. When I am lying down in corpse pose, I can’t unwind. I’ll watch an hour of television, but then I’ll feel guilty for watching it. I don’t watch too many movies because I feel like they’re too long and that I should be doing something else during those 2-3 hours (Personally I think 3 hours for a movie is too long for a person to pay attention to it).

As crazy as it seems, I feel like everything should be a task or some sort of productive type of work that I can check off my list. Sometimes I think I need to include the more essential things such as eating and sleeping on my list of things to do because even those things get postponed. Or I’ll cut back on the amount needed to function because I feel I have more important things to do. I always seem to trim the fat on sleep, when in fact I really should be splurging more on this.

Thank goodness for the weekend.

Although I get to catch up on some sleep, I feel I can never truly relax on the weekends. Whatever things I didn’t accomplish during the week, I play catch-up on the weekend. Remember how Sunday was considered a day of rest/relaxation or spending time with your family? I can’t even remember the last time I actually spent a WHOLE day resting or relaxing. The term “Lazy Sunday” doesn’t seem to be part of my vocabulary. My Sundays are usually spent doing some cleaning or a bit of cooking so we have some food for the next few days. You may already know this but I don’t find cooking relaxing AT ALL. Oddly enough, I don’t mind cleaning too much.

Then comes Monday and the whole work week starts all over again.

The rare times I found I could relax fully, but only for a short period of time was when I went to a spa. I’m not a regular spa goer (They’re way too pricey in my opinion to be a regular thing), but I’ve been a few times with girlfriends and for bachelorette parties.  I like the fact that they emphasize peace and quiet and prohibit technology.  In this day and age, that seems to be the only way to get people off their tablets, smartphones and laptops. This way I am pretty much forced to relax and as much as I try to plan and prioritize in my head, I can’t help but give in to the soothing sounds of a waterfall and the feel of it running down your back.

But as I said before, they are quite pricey, but I and many others are willing to fork over the cash to get a couple of hours or a day to relax. I can’t say I’m really stressed out at this point because my day job is low stress and my night job is a great stress reliever. My problem is that I like to keep busy (most likely too busy) that I stress myself out and my body without meaning to.

The only other time I felt I could relax more than I do at home was when I went away for a vacation. I did a staycation once a few years ago. Needless to say, I would not do it again if I didn’t have to. It was nice, but didn’t even come close to fulfilling a traveller’s desires.

However, the last real vacation I went on wasn’t so relaxing.  At least I didn’t think so.  In fact, I think the majority of my vacations have never been 100% relaxation. Even at the all-inclusive resorts, I felt like I needed to do something. I can only sit by the pool/beach and suntan/sip drinks for so long. Thank goodness for the offsite excursions.  I think I always have the mindset that if I’m going to a different country for only a short amount of time, I need to see all the “must-see” sights and experience the culture as much as possible.  When I went backpacking in Europe after university graduation, it was pretty much “GO GO GO” for a month straight.

I’m heading to Athens and Santorini in May for my next big trip. I know I am clearly not deprived when it comes to vacation and travelling the world, but it killed me when I didn’t even go out of the province last year. We spent a fall weekend at a friend’s family cottage where we did some kayaking, but then my partner spent the rest of the time fixing stuff around the cottage and I brought my laptop to do some work.  So I decided that this year, I needed to get a new stamp on my passport , get myself and my partner off the continent (He has only been to one other country other than the U.S.) and give myself some international relaxation time.

Depending on the country and what type of travel you’re into, vacations can be pricey. I have done the hostels, buying groceries and cooking your own meals and sleeping in tents to save money while on vacation. I think I’m at the point where I’d like to spend a bit more and enjoy some luxury on vacation. I have no problems taking the metro or walking around to explore the city, but when it comes to food, I do not want to be doing ANY cooking while on vacation.

 

Do you find it easy to relax  or do you have to pay a hefty price like to me to fully relax?