Do you suffer from what I call “Race Syndrome?”

Have you wondered why it feels as though you are competing in a race?

Well this happened to me, and no matter how unimportant the daily task, I felt as though I had to steam through it as though I was a sole athlete in an invisible race…

But later I gave this some thought and it occurred to me why this might be. When I was a child, my siblings and I were not taught how to relax – there was always housework to do, or something that needed to be done. We were told to only do things that were “constructive”. My mother liked doing every task quickly and she expected us to follow suit.

So, relaxing wasn’t a part of my development. I’d not seen the instruction guide.

But now that I’m at least aware of it, I have stopped applying race mode to everything I do. I also value the knowledge that relaxing is healthy. I’ve taught my daughter the art of relaxing, and now I’m learning to take a few leaves from my own book. There’s no need to feel guilty about it, and it makes me more productive afterwards!