Rest

A rare five-day weekend prompts this post about the value of down-time, and the opportunities it creates for renewal of physical energies, as well as for a revisiting of priorities.

Ton

4/9/20234 min read

Circumstances appear to have conspired to give the Filipino nation a rare 5-day break this year beginning the 6th of April until the 10th. I am still trying to recall the last time any of our previous governments had declared an equally long stretch of days off, at least for most people earning their living through regular paychecks. Of course, most of this is part of the yearly Holy Week break that typically runs up to Easter. But the extra Day of Valor holiday immediately following Easter Sunday, differentiates this year from any other in the past.

Incidentally, April 6 this year marked the second death anniversary of my mom, who lost her nearly 3-week battle with Covid-19 at the height of its Delta variant surge here back in 2021.   A few more weeks, and she would have turned 83. On an extended stretch of rest days like this one, I would remember her and think of no other way to describe her but to use the word "tireless".   "Ma" had sought to maintain order in the family for as long as I can remember and had done so until her very last breath.  It never failed to amaze that her generation had been blessed with so many others who not only ignored both pain and fatigue, but also thought little about holidays and vacations.  Nowadays, her generation has been labeled the Silent Generation.   A generation of warriors, in my opinion.  Two years ago, after a lifetime of work and service, my mom's time for rest had come, and where I was concerned that brought more of a sense of peace, instead of any sense of loss.  

I have begun, even in my late 20s and early 30s, to exhibit symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea; and I have, over the past 7 years, grown accustomed to relying on a bedside machine to help me breathe-in the most optimum amount of oxygen in nightly attempts to get better sleep quality.   With or without this device, I also happen to suffer from some form of fragmented sleep.  Rare have been days these last 15 years when I could confidently say that I have gotten restful sleep over a period of more than 5 hours on any given night, even with the occasional melatonin.  I have in 2022 learned to stop worrying about getting enough sleep, in favor of just focusing on getting as much done as I could during the hours while I am awake.   I have come to define "rest" to include daily walks in the earliest hours of dawn, accessing my still-frequently bankable videographic memory to recount the events of the prior day, in preparation for the new one.  Resting for me doesn't necessarily mean I am not working, because in truth I am always working.  It just means, that by force of circumstance, I now need to allow myself a few hours to step back and outside the thick of things, and think about what I am doing, how I have done it up to that certain point, and in how many more ways I am able to improve on both for the days ahead.

I have to say that this manner of rest is now somehow helping me to take better stock of things and to develop a sense of awareness that didn't exist when I was too concerned about what the competition, both real and imagined, are up to, or what people I work with didn't do correctly.  I am learning to increasingly take comfort in becoming more honest with myself about my own limitations, in examining the true value of the things I do, in choosing the most opportune timing in which I do them, and in seriously contemplating why I should even bother to try.  I am continuing to discover that these are just enough to allow me to step on the brakes when it seems way too tempting to "push the pedal to the metal".    

In our part of the world, one can still observe that many captains of industry continue to embody the aphorism "Time is money", and many still continue to fill their work calendar, as if almost afraid that by allowing a space on it to remain blank, they're burning away valuable time.   And so, they take rest for granted, sometimes to the point of dismissing its physical necessities, and even more so all of its intangible merits.  The hard reality is that with information technology the world now moves a lot faster than it ever did before.  Putting in more days and hours at work does not necessarily translate into getting more done for their respective companies.  More time at work now just means opening up more time for a lot more information to be processed.  The cold truth is that faster processing does not and should not necessarily translate into more value.  Sometimes, it suffices for business leaders and business owners to simply confirm what had been accomplished, in order to get a broader perspective of how best to build on those accomplishments, for reasons that will continue to make the most sense for their respective organizations. 

Back in 2021, upon learning I had moved on from running the finance department of a construction firm, a friend had given me a call and advised:  "Slow down. But do not stop".  I believe he meant that I should be more selective, and not try to do everything all at once.  I took his advice to mean that what I am good at is what would ultimately make the most sense for myself.  I shall do well to keep it in mind, and also to share with others, as I enjoy this 5-day break in the best way I know how, before I return to work next week.  

Happy Easter!