When the going gets tough, the tough have a duvet day!

When the going gets tough, the tough have a duvet day!

The last few days I've been going through a phase of moodiness and high emotion. I will feel depressed and start crying for no reason. I will lose my temper and bite your head off for the slightest affront. I will drag my feet throughout the day with no motivation. And I will feel guilty for all of it!

Today I woke up to grey skies and the promise from BBC that the sun would not put in an appearance. I decided that instead of moping around, I would just declare it a duvet day. For those who have been following my blogs, you know that a duvet day means wrapping up in a duvet or quilt on the couch and eating some (or all) of your favourite foods. I declared to my husband (my biggest critic - yes, he's harder on me than I am) that I was having a duvet day, and he said nothing. Was this his approval? Or was he afraid of being confronted by Mrs. Hyde / the Incredible Hulkess / the Bride of Frankenstein rolled into one? I don't know, but because he didn't object, I felt ok about having a duvet day. Yes, this was going to be great.

I spent about an hour reading and eating breakfast. Next I got on the internet and did some surfing. I thought, while I'm here I might as well respond to some emails. I caught up on my admin tasks for my business. I then uploaded some photos for listing some items on Freecycle and Ebay. I started an Ebay selling account. When my husband asked if I'd do a small task for him, I responded, "I'll do anything you ask, as long as it's not unpleasant," which could be anything other than eating chocolates. But what he asked would only take 10 minutes of my time, so I generously gave up 10 minutes of duvet day without feeling put out.

The funny thing is, I think I got more done today than had it been a 'regular' day. I still kept up with the daily tasks of getting daughter ready for school, doing the school runs, cooking dinner and getting daughter and friend off to Brownies. I even got daughter and friend to do their homework. I was so productive today it's frightening.

I don't think it would be wise to label everyday 'duvet day' just to up my productivity. But it becomes an interesting case study. What made me more productive? What caused me to enjoy the day and feel refreshed by evening? Why do I feel such a high sense of achievement on what should have been a throw-away day? Why do I feel less moody?

The biggest difference I see is that I moved out of 'I should' awareness to 'I could'. I set no expectations on myself, so anything that got done was a bonus. I gave myself permission to rest, but only used what I needed. I removed the heavy mill-stone around my neck and just enjoyed a burden-free day. I did everything because I wanted to, not because I had to. It was very cool.

I don't know what tomorrow will bring. I feel it's too cheeky to declare two duvet days in a row. But maybe that's just what I need. ;D

Thank you for reading. For more information on Raja Yoga philosophy see www.bkwsu.org.