August 15 is National Relaxation Day and National Failures Day

Is it ironic that these holidays are on the same day? Maybe not... perhaps this is a sign that we should relax and accept our failures. Maybe it is a sign that we should relax more and then we would have fewer failures. Or maybe you are relaxing too much and this is leading to your failures. I guess you can take it anyway you want. As for me, it's 2 am, I haven't slept in hours and I'm always looking for something to celebrate.

So let's start with National Relaxation Day. Did you know that it is not only fun to relax but it's actually vital to a healthy lifestyle? Life is stressful! Have you seen the news lately? There are always so many things to do and never enough hours in the day. We prioritize and compartmentalize and organize and we try to squeeze each and every minute of the day to its fullest. Are you penciling "Rest Time" in your day planner?

Our bodies and our minds need time to rest, to recover from a day's events and recuperate so we can feel energized and ready to begin a new day. While those workaholics among us may see it as slacking off, it's actually a great way to be more productive. When you take a reasonable amount of time for rest and relaxation, you can come back with more gusto and oomph (I only say words like "oomph" at 2 am). When you push yourself too hard, you become burnt out and sluggish and you will not be as productive. So sit back and relax and take some time to honor National Relaxation Day.

Let us not forget that August 15th is such a glorious day it requires two national holidays. It is also National Failures Day. Put away that bottle of bourbon, it's not time to wallow in self-pity. No, instead we are going to embrace our failures and recognize that without them we could never grow as individuals.

Life is all about choices and with those choices come consequences. Sometimes we make the wrong choices and we may not like those consequences. Sometimes we try our hardest and our best just isn't good enough. It's true that some of us fail a bit more often that others but hey, no one's calling names here. Seriously, we all make mistakes and if you try to be perfect all the time, you're just going to fail at that as well. The key is not to avoid failure but to learn from it when it occurs and continue trying.

We will fail as individuals, we often fail as groups. Marriages fail, friendships fail, even countries and their leaders can fail. It's what makes the world go round, what makes us tick. Failures are often about perception as well. A failure to one person may look different in the eyes of another.

Today, in honor of National Failures Day, take a look at your life and some of your failures. Failures are often about perception as well. A failure to one person may look different in the eyes of another. Was there times that what you thought was a failure turned out to be a blessing in disguise? Has someone ever accused you of being a failure and it motivated you to prove them wrong? In what ways have the failures of others affected your life? When you look at your failures, have you learned from them? If given the chance to do it all over again, would you change anything?

Today, August 15th, let's take a moment to honor both National Relaxation Day and National Failures Day.