My Riffs

Laziness is like a seed. You allow it to settle and grow, and soon it will overtake you like a weed.  It’s best to not allow and amount of laziness to settle.  Rest is good. Laziness never is good. 

A Break can fix you.  Not broken break, restful breaks.  At work and you hit a wall? Take a quick walk.  Writers block? Take a quick break.  Can’t solve a problem? Take a quick break.  Losing focus? Take a quick break. 

Rest is a necessary part of life. You either make space for rest or it will make room for itself.  Rest feels better when you’ve put in purposeful work first.  Resting too long turns into lethargy though.  So rest, recover and get back at it!

Doing nothing is tiring.  But the better way to get tired is to be productive.  There’s time and place to rest and do nothing.  But doing something meaningful is the best way to get tired. 

A break isn’t quitting.  A break can fix you. If you need a break, take one. Don’t quit though. Know how long your break will be. Then get back at it!

Rest is something that is frowned upon in our society. We don’t applaud someone who rests, we applaud those who work harder. But rest is necessary. Rest makes our work better. Rest makes us better. People who rest properly do more efficiently. People who rest properly go further and in with better health. Rest is okay. 

Rest is critical. If you don’t stop to rest, eventually rest will choose you whether you like it or not. Rest often and you’ll go longer. 

Rest is much sweeter after work. Too much rest is damaging but perfect rest after work is rejuvenation. Work hard, rest well. 

Our minds are busy places. The amount of information, media we take in daily and the amount of decisions being made have never been higher. If we don’t take to declutter our minds, they become very confused and inept. Find ways to declutter your mind. Learn to let go of things, to let things roll off your back. Learn to set priorities of what you will consume energy on. Our current culture demands an unsustainable pace from us. 

At the days end it's best to let it all go. When you've given your best, lay your head down and rest.  The moral of this is, once you've done your best, rest and then get up and do it again.

There’s a big difference between resting and being lazy.  Rest is a need. Laziness is a weakness. Lying to yourself about this hurts yourself mostly. And it’s a a dangerous habit to get into. (Both the lying to yourself and the laziness) Rest is good and enables you to do more. Laziness hinders your from doing what you should be doing. 

Rest can fix you. Going at 100 miles per hour is good, but only for periods of time. You can't run that fast all the time. When you've been running fast, you need to slow down and fix yourself. And rest can and will do that.

Taking a quick break is often a good thing to do. For instance, when you hit a wall problem solving, take a break. When you hit a creative wall, take a break. When you hit a snag in a negotiation, take a break. When you've been working super hard, take a break. A break can fix you.

Balance all three. Any excess or deficit of the three causes life imbalance. Set aside time for rest and play, just as your work schedule is set for you. When all three are in balance, you have a more fulfilled and healthy life.

A few days per year it's necessary to press pause and clear the agenda. Some pause days are dictated by the calendar and some pause days we need to fit into our calendar. Today is a calendar dictated pause, thankfully. The pause is so necessary though. Merry Christmas to everyone!

Because we are complex beings, it is challenging to get and maintain good health. Its not so simple to balance everything in our busy lives while maintaining good health. We are spiritual, emotional, physical beings. What does it take to be healthy then? There is no magic, simple answer to good health. It takes work, maintenance and lifestyle changes/habits. Health isn't an activity or task, it's a lifestyle. Eat good,  drink good,  think good, play good, rest good, work good, exercise good, speak good and love. It's not easy to maintain good health, but it's sure a lot easier than living unhealthy.

This isn't by any stretch an original thought. Life requires balance between three key areas: work, rest and play. If your life balance is super deficient in any of these three key areas, the other areas will be negatively affected. So, take time to rest. Take time to play. And naturally, work. If you're unhappy, tired or burnt out, chances are there is a deficiency in one area or another, or even multiple areas.

I am confident in saying there have never been busier times in human history. We extend ourselves in so many directions every day. We take in crazy amounts of information daily. We are involved in more than ever before. At a cost though. Most people, me included, do not take time to breathe in. Burnout is real. Sometimes you will never recover 100% from burnout. The thing is, nobody will manage this for you. Companies, other people and even yourself will keep piling on more and more and more and more. You have to manage burnout for yourself. Know your limits. Burnout can be a combination of physical, mental and emotional factors. Know your mental limits. Know your physical limits. Be careful if you push those limits because sometimes complete recovery isn't possible. Scheduled rest is not unproductive. Rest is an integral part of human life. Without proper rest/work balance we will eventually burnout.

Yes, the main reason we work and exchange our time is for money. But is it really simply for money? Or, is it to contribute, provide, share and give? Steve Jobs died with $10.2 billion in the bank, and that was not enough to extend his life any further. Work to provide quality of life for yourself and others. You're working to support your life . Not to see how much you can amass in the bank. Work to contribute to the betterment of the world. Work to give to others. Work to support your own. Work to enjoy life. Having $10.2 billion made Steve Jobs no better off than someone with $0 at time of his death. What gives us value is life, family, friends and contributions. Better to pass away with a rich family and friend community and no money, than lots of money and no family and friends.

One of my favourite things about playing an instrument is, being in the moment. Playing music is a fluid activity where you are fully engaged and intently listening to others. You are constantly making decisions and adjustments. It requires you to be completely "in the moment". Playing with other musicians who are listening and are "in the moment" with you is a fun experience. Unfortunately so much of life can tend to be lived not fully engaged. Going through the motions. Not really invested in what you are doing. Not listening to those around you. Complaining. Getting through the day... We all have daily tasks that require our attention (jobs, school, families, friends) and it is an honour to have the aforementioned things that need us. What if we didn't have school opportunities? Or nobody wanted to pay us for our time and skills? Or we had no family that needed us? Or no friends that needed us? We all have important things to do. (including enjoyable ...