The Difficulty of Relaxation

1 June 2023 - Maiori

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I've spent the last three days recouperating on the Amalfi Coast. My original plan to stay in the Naples area and swim was unteneable because the water is just gross there. The beaches are covered with trash and the water is filled with little floating bits of plastic. I know the Mediterrean has nice beaches though, and a little Googling found me the lovely beaches here. It would have been more educational to run around to castles and museums in the Naples area, but I've been pushing myself too hard and have forgotten to relax. Relaxation has never been my strong suit. I'm always running, or trying to finish a book, or visit somewhere, or some other goal oriented behavior in my free time. It's too much, and while I can grasp that intellectually, putting it into practice is harder. Like this morning I went out for coffee and a croissant and brought along a swimsuit and towel to swim, my laptop so I could write or do work, my journal, and a book to read. There's no way that I could do all those things in during the hour or so I had, but I didn't want to waste time. So I ended up walking with coffee, sitting to journal, calling the fire department to report a fire in the forest on the hillside, and then going for a short swim. I managed to just park myself on the beach under an umbrella for all of Tuesday, but overestimated the SPF of said umbrella and ended up burned. Ergo I stayed out of the sun Wednesday, which was much less relaxing. Warren Buffett's 5/25 rule is something I've tried to put into practice, by focusing on my top goals and ignoring the less important things on my list. But by tempermant I want to do everything, so I soon find my list recluttered with unimportant things. It's a Sisyphean task.