Sunday Afternoons

Two Sundays ago I did this.

 

I had some extra time between a friend's late afternoon thirty-one party and the evening prayer service at church. So I went to the park and crocheted. A large group of people were celebrating something down the hill under the pavilion, so I sat up on a bench along the walking path. The happy shrieks of kids on the playground and loud country music from a radio layered in the background while I worked. I rarely do something so different and refreshing on a Sunday afternoon, but I'm learning to make Sunday a day of rest. 

A bench, some yarn, a book, and a clear sky. That's all it takes to reset my mind and heart and prepare me for a new week.

 

Today I took Sunday slowly too. 

I made an afternoon cup of coffee. 

I continued my self-taught sewing lessons.

I toasted some almonds for trail mix. 

Sunday is becoming my "practice relaxing" day. I'm really awful at relaxing. I've got to have all the chores done before I can even dare to rest, and we all know the chores never ever get completely done. Because of this, I have to put enjoyable things on my To Do list along with errands and gardening and cleaning out the car and doing laundry. Reading a chapter of a good book or working on my latest crochet project are just as hard to complete as those undesirable tasks. 

It's because of my inability to make time for rest that I've banned chores from Sunday afternoons. Maybe it's bowing to my need to have things on a list to assign Sundays as Relax Day, but if that's what it takes for me to take rest seriously, I think it's worth it.

Am I the only one who finds relaxing impossible? 

What are some good strategies for integrating rest into the week?