Today is a day to remember that rest is something that makes life worth living. It makes us stronger, it increases our ability to experience and contain joy and all that is beautiful within ourselves and outside of us (often referred to as “without”).
But before I get into the journaling prompt for today, something has been on my mind. Do you remember my table on Day 100 comparing the Ipsissimus to the Genie?
There is something I may have glossed over, failed to mention, or implied without stating directly.
Here is one more difference between the two:
The Genie typically gets used by his or her master. Taken for granted, summoned, and then tossed aside when they are no longer useful.
The Ipsissimus and the Genie both deserve great respect for each of them carries this deep, innate desire to serve with their whole being. At least that is my perspective. Maybe it is my projection onto them, at least onto the Genie. I do feel confident stating that about an Ipsissimus for this one, plain and simple fact:
In order to receive the initiation and high honor of being titled “Ipsissimus”, one must demonstrate a deep desire to serve that is sustained and continues to grow as time goes by. One would assume that this desire is innate, because Ipsissimus do not receive the recognition nor applause that one would expect a person of such high honor would be worthy of.
That is why I want to make it clear that Ipsissimus develop strong boundaries as they become worthy of their title and initiation. These boundaries ensure that a person of this great caring, integrity, nobility, and honor does not allow him or herself to be use. They may be taken for granted, mistreated, tossed aside by those who cannot innately recognize their value. The value that the Ipsissimus has cultivated within himself, as well as the value that having a good relationship with an Ipsissimus brings into your life.
That is a deep misfortune. The Ipsissimus in all of his training and commitment to cultivate his sense of self-worthiness, ensures that the misfortune is not experienced on his end of the bargain. What do I mean by that?
If you reject the opportunity to learn from and develop some type of professional relationship with an Ipsissimus, especially a Sovereign Ipsissimus, you are the one who suffers from that rejection. Not the Ipsissimus.
Imagine developing a sense of self worth so high, honorable, and in integrity that every rejection you experience comes with a sense of “it will be okay. If that’s what you choose, I hope your life becomes better because of it.” And that’s it? No anger, no hurt feelings, no broken heart, no sense of desperation or feeling a need to prove that the other person was wrong in their assessment of you?
That is the kind of self-respect I am aiming to cultivate. It will come someday, given enough time, experience, and reminders that I am God.
So I wanted to make it clear that Ipsissimus are not people to be tossed aside, as people often do with Genies in lamps. They deserve a great deal of respect, even more than you can imagine offering another person at times. They have earned that respect and developed it within themselves by following one path – the path of Merit. They have become worthy of respect through the actions they take and the endeavors they undertake. So, if you ever encounter an Ipsissimus or Ipsissima in the flesh, be sure to offer them a whole-hearted “thank you for your service to humanity”.
You have no idea what they have sacrificed, endured, struggled through, and seen through to the end in order to become worthy of that title and the initiation it comes through in. You are limited in your ability to imagine how deeply they care about you individually and us as a whole human race.
So now, on to Day 112’s journaling prompt. What are you doing to restore your vitality? How do you replenish your energy when you’re depleted?
How do you rest in a way that makes you excited to live your life again?
I like to lay in bed for hours, focusing on good energy and finding meditative or contemplative ways to fill my awareness with that sense of peace, beauty, and wonder that makes life worth living again.
When you watch TV, does it help you get to a point where you can’t sit still any longer you have to do something productive?
When you scroll on social media, does it make you feel tired, anxious, angry, drained, depleted? Or does it fill your cup with excitement, wonder, and curiosity for just how good life can be? Do you get amped imagining the actions you can take next to get a taste of all the good things life has to offer? I hope it’s the second and third one, but I have a feeling it’s not.
I know we visited this prompt before, so if you remember your answers from that day feel free to revisit them. See if they still apply. If they don’t, or if you have gained new insight into what actually rejuvenates you and what seems like relaxing but actually drains you, write that down.
Ultimately you should identify 3 different ways you can relax that make life feel like it is worth living again.
One mistake I make whenever I imagine my ideal schedule is not putting in any time for me to rest. I think I have to be extremely hard and difficult and challenging to myself. 4:30 AM wake up time, go go go all day with no down time, bed at 11:30 PM and start all over again the next day FOREVER.
And then on Day 1 I think to myself “I’m a failure” because I don’t want to wake up at 4:30 AM and run or go to the gym. I just want to wake up in a way that is easy and relaxing, lay in bed for hours and then get up when I’m ready.
And you know what? The hardest part isn’t setting the schedule, it isn’t fighting the urge to call myself a failure. The hardest part is accepting that maybe the reason my schedule won’t stick is because I’m not setting myself up for success to begin with. I’m not working nor planning in alignment with that which really serves ME, ultimately.
Do I call myself lazy? Yeah, of course I do. I think of my role models and I put these impossible expectations on what their days look like, and then I berate myself for not doing exactly the same thing. Nevermind the fact that I don’t actually know what their schedules look like. I do the same thing when I try to imagine the version of my future self that is living the life of my dreams. I am cruel to myself and I call it progression.
It’s okay to rest. In fact, if scheduling rest into your schedule every day, and week, and month makes it possible for you to stick to a routine you should try that. Better than acting like you should be David Goggins starting at 04:00 sharp tomorrow morning.
Men like David Goggins, Jocko Willink, Hal Elrod (author of the Miracle Morning) anyone you can think of who epitomizes discipline, consistency, commitment, structure, and rigid routine didn’t get that way overnight. In fact, two of those men were in high-ranking positions in the military. That discipline was something that was drilled into them.
So don’t worry if packing your schedule full of high-power “go go go” deliverables doesn’t motivate you.
Maybe better than discovering why you want a schedule like that would be to tune in and ask yourself “what kind of schedule would actually support my desire and need to rest regularly?”
Give yourself an opportunity to experience downtime. If you don’t schedule it, you’ll find ways to get it in and sabotage your plan no matter how good it looks on paper.
The thing about getting better in life, it means you also get better about advocating for what you actually want and need. Rest is important. It’s integral. It’s not optional. It’s a necessity.
Take rest when you can. Don’t let it become your whole day forever. But if you haven’t rested in a while, it might need to be larger chunks of your day for longer than you might be comfortable with initially.
The better you get at knowing yourself, the more familiar you’ll become with what you actually require in order to enjoy your life.
Make rest a priority.
If you just need to examine your relationship with rest and why you feel so resistant to it today, you can do that as your journaling prompt. Save the scheduling exercise for when you feel ready.
😴🥱💤🛌🏼
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