Sister, let’s talk about The Hustle.

You know, that thing so many of us choose to do, or are compelled, bombarded, thrilled or inspired to do. The Hustle can make you feel a heady sense of exhilaration, purpose, control, accomplishment and drive. Your pace can impress some people who are a lot less impressed if or when it affects health, quality of life, and eating habits.

But there are times when The Hustle resembles living like a hamster in a wheel, on an endless journey towards a destination that seems as determined to evade you as you are to reach it. Watch Mr. Hamster as his little bitty legs frantically work to reach what will never come – the end, AN end, until he finally tires and realises that in reality, he’s gone nowhere, though not from a lack of doing or the absence of a goal. 

What’s the hustle for? Is it a replacement meal or something else? If it’s in seasons, related to nurturing a peaceful home or part of your purpose, that’s understandable (though it’s not for me to understand)…but when The Hustle becomes a template for everyday life, that’s a recipe that’s missing more than a few key ingredients that help nourish the mind, body and soul. As a writer and musician with a publishing business (writing this post at 11:24pm minutes before recording the lead vocal to a new song) setting a healthy pace and monitoring the tendency to be consistently creative at the expense of purposeful rest is an ongoing lesson…but a necessary and valuable one still.

We might be willing and able to work well under pressure but that doesn’t mean it won’t affect our mood, nature and the way we interact with others when rushing becomes a default pattern. Do you find you’re much kinder in your thoughts, considerate with your words and conscious of your countenance when refreshed, not rushed? I do.

This is one of the many reasons gardening is become more popular as an activity – accessibility to real food at a time of intermittent food shortage (famine), and the therapeutic nature of it that involves proactivity, patience, a healthy pace and deeper breaths.

Let’s talk about the mental fatigue and physical lethargy, due to The Hustle…hustle to pay bills every 4–5 weeks, hustle to put gas in your car, to buy a car, driving around hustlin’ for money from other hustlers to pay these same bills and buy food, which ent even healthy ’cause you ent hustle enough to afford the perishable fruits, vegetables, provisions you’d love to feed yourself and your family, for whom you hustle more…only to realise that The Hustle can leave you so drained, rest-deprived, irritable and utterly exhausted, that it’s hard to relax and enjoy their company as much as you’d like, ’cause they’re so happy to finally spend time with you that their volume’s too loud ’cause you’re just too tired – too busy hustling for a little extra somethin’ to afford the luxury of a possibility of less of a hustle the next week God-spare-life , so you’d have more energy and time to slow down, catch your breath, and realise…remember that life…

LIFE is not meant to be A Hustle

And purposeful rest is a necessary step for refreshment.

Quality of life matters. Your life matters, and it has a purpose that goes way beyond what you do and your to-do list.

Hustle is not the same as hard work.

Breathe, sis.

Sharing this with love.

Re-setting the pace and volume of your life for the better | Personal growth