It was the knot in my stomach that convinced me to rest.
I’d started a blog a year before I noticed the knot. “Starting a blog” is code for “taking my decades-long dream of becoming an author seriously.” A year after I took the plunge, I’d made significant progress online. I felt so proud of myself. Instead of ignoring my dreams, I was living them.
The only problem was my stomach.
I noticed the discomfort most when I worked after my kids went to bed, a sort of breathless jitteriness not unlike a caffeine high. The more I wrote, the tighter my belly got. Writing in every spare moment felt productive, but unsustainable. If I kept sprinting after my dreams, would I collapse?
I argued with myself I was only just getting started. How could I afford to do less when I’d taken so long to get serious in the first place?
But the knot only grew worse, so one Saturday night, I decided to do something about it. I took a deep breath, shut my computer, and didn’t open it again for twenty-four hours.
At first, taking a day off felt terrible…
I’m so pleased to have my first guest post up at No Sidebar—a blog that helps you design a simple life. Won’t you join me there to read what happened next?
Why Simplicity Will Make You Braver