In my experience there is a fine line between relaxing to keep your sanity and just plain slacking off. My current routine is to come home from work and immediately start watching TV while eating.
I am not proud of this habit. The reason I keep doing it is because I feel overwhelmed from working and dealing with things I don’t particularly want to, and after giving so much of my energy I can’t summon any additional energy to do anything other than mindless consumption, physically and emotionally.
It’s possible if I had no choice and my lifestyle forced me to take different actions, I would eventually adapt and do things differently. But I am not willing to change that without a good reason. Unfortunately, this good reason is a very variable idea, which depends entirely on my world view at that moment. Which leads me to considering the advice that motivation isn’t what is actually needed, but self-discipline.
But – self-discipline only works if you can get yourself to believe that you need to do something because you need or want to get somewhere (even if it’s just to improve your self-discipline and self-control). If you are at a place where the world seems like a cesspool of unsolvable hardships, and you don’t want to participate in life anymore, then there’s some more serious issues that need to be looked at. Some may possibly require medical attention (and please don’t hesitate to seek help, life IS worth living), and some, like in my case, might stem from a lack of seeing any reason to do anything because my world view and understanding has been flipped upside down and reality no longer makes sense.
My personal philosophy, after a few years of life crises ranging from a change in my religious outlook, to recognizing my own physical and intellectual limitations, to searching for a sustainable spot in the hierarchy of the working world, is that I am a consciousness temporarily alive with an expiration date whether I like it or not. I am perceiving the universe around me, and while I am here and alive I can either: 1)Do my best to improve my surroundings, 2) Go with the flow, or 3) Make things worse around me. Of course, I am not a fixed variable, and I can and probably will do all three options no matter what (for example, I can help clean up a river and improve a situation, or put the cart back into its spot after I’m done shopping and maintain a situation, or cut someone off on the road and worsen a situation).
What has been especially freeing in my current life view is the realization that nothing is actually expected of me, the same way that nothing is expected of a fly or a cat. Of course, certain behaviors are natural and will happen, similar to the fly or cat, but this approach has helped me find some meaning in my own life. Because of my understanding that I am just another consciousness in the universe, and that I am self-aware enough to recognize that fact, I am then responsible for my actions, no matter what they are, and I can indeed control my behavior.
That’s where my question comes in next – for a self-aware, yet still emotionally and physically limited consciousness, where is the line where important, sanity preserving relaxation becomes excessive, gratifying laziness? I think the answer is different for each person, and for each time in their life. My answer to myself right now is don’t be too hard on yourself if you want to take it easier for a while, but try to remember that you are here only temporarily and if there’s anything you would like to accomplish or learn or experience, soon might be a good time to start.