Over the last couple of months I had been doing a lot of paddling, however I realised that every time I was going out on the water I was doing it for a purpose. I had set myself all these goals, like trying to explore as many new waterways as I could or trying to do “One Interesting Thing a Day” or I was out filming all sorts of video footage for my Top 5 Paddles in Sydney video. Without realising it, I had started putting a whole lot of pressure on myself to go paddling, rather than just enjoying the experience.

So this morning, after a week of pretty much sitting on my computer, I went for a paddle on Mangrove Creek. It was just a paddle for the sake of a paddle. I took no cameras (apart form my phone), I didn’t listen to any podcasts or audio books. I just enjoyed the scenery and the sounds of the birds. It was freezing cold but it was the best paddle I have done for a long time.

It has been 2.5 months since I stopped working to take a break and the other day I realised I haven’t really taken a break. In fact, I dived into doing so many projects that I started to almost burn myself out. My mind has been constantly on the go and I have been having troubles sleeping because there is so many things to think about. While I have been enjoying all the things I have been doing, I have been doing them all at an unnecessarily fast pace and a sense of urgency. This is totally crazy because the one thing I have at the moment is time. It also happens to have coincided with me taking up drinking coffee again (after 3 years), so the extra amount of caffeine in my blood stream is not helping me slow down.

I am glad I have had this realisation, because I can now change gears and slow down a bit. I can still work on all my projects and do all the things I have been doing, I just don’t need to try and get them all done at the same time and certainly don’t need to set any rediculous timelines.

Time to start enjoying my break.