Episode notes
Good Things Sometimes Need to Rest
Have you ever said, “I'm just going to sit down for five minutes”? That's one of the biggest lies we tell ourselves. You sit down, kick off your shoes, get comfortable, and twenty minutes later, getting back up requires serious negotiation. You look across the room at something you need and think, “Do I really need that?” Apparently not. Because once you've found the perfect comfortable position, everything becomes optional. But maybe sitting down isn't always such a bad thing. We live in a world that treats resting like we're doing something wrong. We think we're supposed to constantly move, work, accomplish, clean, organize, answer messages and figure out tomorrow. Coffee, however, has an interesting lesson for us, because fresh coffee can benefit from resting. You might assume coffee is always best the instant it comes out of the roaster. But freshly roasted coffee releases carbon dioxide for a period afterward. Depending on the coffee and brewing method, allowing beans some resting time after roasting can help them settle into a more consistent brewing window. Isn't that interesting? Fresh doesn't necessarily mean “rush.” Sometimes something good can become easier to appreciate when it's simply given a little time. People aren't so different. There are times when the smartest thing we can do with a problem is stop wrestling with it for a while. Walk away. Think. Pray. Sleep on it. Come back tomorrow. Have you ever worried about something late at night that seemed absolutely catastrophic? Then morning came. You looked at the exact same situation and thought: “Oh. I can handle that.” Nothing necessarily changed. You rested. That's why today's coffee break is dedicated to giving ourselves permission to stop occasionally. Pour yourself a cup of Janise Joy, sit somewhere comfortable and enjoy it without simultaneously trying to accomplish six other things. No folding laundry while drinking it. No answering emails between sips. Just coffee. And peace. For ten minutes. The laundry isn't going anywhere. Trust me. I've never known laundry to become offended and leave home because nobody folded it. Sometimes resting isn't laziness. It's preparation. Your mind may become clearer. Your patience may return. And suddenly you have enough energy to tackle whatever comes next. So if someone catches you sitting quietly with your coffee and asks what you're doing, tell them: “I'm improving.” Technically, coffee does it too. Visit Cager's Coffee Hut at www.cagerscoffeehut.com, and remember to keep brewing kindness one cup at a time.