You Aren't Your Productivity

One of the things I constantly struggle with in my everyday life is productivity. We (especially here in the U.S.) live in a society that idolizes working ourselves to death and being productive every single second of the day. I for one just can't do that--but it piques my anxiety not to at least try.

It's this super-vicious circle, and I'm not ashamed to say I've talked to my therapist about it a lot. She told me something last week that really hit home (admittedly, she saw it in a meme, but that's because she's awesome):

Sloths have survived thousands of years--by doing absolutely nothing.

Look at how cute it is! I want to boop his nose.

And this morning, while scrolling through Twitter for my day job, I came across this article, which has a fabulous headline: To avoid extinction it's about 'survival of the laziest,' study suggests.

It seemed like pretty convenient timing, you know? One of those "hey, pay attention!" moments that may or may not be a poke from something in the universe. But the meaning is clear.

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It's okay to fucking rest.

It's okay to take a damn break.

You don't need to feel guilty about taking care of yourself.

Sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeep

It's a hard lesson to learn, especially when everything around us is pressuring us to do more, create more, work more, just so we can survive. But what good is survival without taking the time to recover, rest, and actually enjoy our time here?

I know it's easier said than done, especially if you're an outcast like me, or you're struggling to put food on the table every day. But I think it's important to be able to take even just a five-minute break now and then to take a deep breath and remind yourself that you're awesome regardless of what you produce (or don't).

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Our humanity, our worth, is not tied to our productivity. It's tied simply to our existence. You're amazing just by being here.

- Nonir

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