{"id":870,"date":"2024-11-02T08:52:46","date_gmt":"2024-11-02T12:52:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/?p=870"},"modified":"2024-11-02T09:01:49","modified_gmt":"2024-11-02T13:01:49","slug":"dont-run-with-the-red-queen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/2024\/11\/dont-run-with-the-red-queen\/","title":{"rendered":"Don&#8217;t Run with the Red Queen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"237\" height=\"147\" src=\"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/files\/2024\/11\/queen-2-smaller-e1730552363829.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-874\" style=\"width:468px;height:auto\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<p>These days the idea of taking a break can seem laughable. Between weather disasters, economic stresses, and just the tangles of everyday life, it can feel like we have to run as fast as possible to just barely keep up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Running Isn&#8217;t Always Progress<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes it all reminds me of Alice in Wonderland. In one scene of the book, Alice is running with the Red Queen, sprinting until she is out of breath. When they stop Alice is shocked to see that she is still in the same place.&nbsp; The Queen explains by saying that in her kingdom \u201cIt takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Life can feel like we are running with the Red Queen\u2014going as fast as we can and still not getting anywhere. But it isn\u2019t really true. Stress and frustration and anger (and the Red Queen has all of these!) can make us feel frantic, like we can\u2019t stop, not even for a second. Yet, stopping and recharging is so important. Without rest, we will run out of energy and eventually just burn out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We feel like we can\u2019t stop, but if we don\u2019t stop sometimes we will end up hitting a wall of exhaustion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What do we do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Rule of Three<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As a first step, let me suggest the Rule of Three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Three<\/em> times a day,<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Take <em>Three<\/em> slow deep breaths,<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>And think about <em>Three <\/em>things you\u2019re grateful for<em>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Easy, right? For example, while brushing your teeth in the morning, take three deep breaths and think about someone you love, something in nature, and a line from your favorite song.&nbsp; At lunch (and you need to eat something during the day!) take three deep breaths and think about playing with your dog, your friend who tells the corniest jokes, and your mom\u2019s homemade pound cake. Before bed, take three deep breaths and think about someone you can talk to when you need to vent, how pretty the sunset was this evening, and how lucky you are to have your comfortable bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All of this will only take about three minutes out of your day, but will help you feel more solid, more relaxed, and more focused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, don\u2019t live in the kingdom of the Red Queen, rushing fast but getting nowhere. Take three little breathing timeouts during each day; it\u2019ll give you more energy and focus so you can actually make progress. Go a little slower in order to go faster, and keep thriving!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>These days the idea of taking a break can seem laughable. Between weather disasters, economic stresses, and just the tangles of everyday life, it can feel like we have to run as fast as possible to just barely keep up. Running Isn&#8217;t Always Progress Sometimes it all reminds me of Alice in Wonderland. In one [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":217,"featured_media":874,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=870"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":876,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870\/revisions\/876"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}