The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 4,690 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—6,500 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ
Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …
For this week’s Make It Easy/Relaxation Merit Badge, I thought I had it made in the shade. That’s right, girls, how hard can it be to relax?! I mean, seriously, this badge was in the bag, so to speak.
I was blindsided however, by the sneaky difficulty of relaxing. The insidious lurking feeling that I must be doing something. The niggling notion that I couldn’t turn my brain off.
I first realized how hard this was going to be on me when I found myself with my Blackberry in hand, scheduling my five-minute period of relaxation.
Um, grammar isn’t my strong suit, but isn’t that some sort of oxymoron, or something? Like a jumbo shrimp, or all-natural artificial flavor, or “a little bit pregnant,” or specifically vague?
Sighing at how in over my noggin I was, I scheduled my five minutes of relaxation right after my Hot Yoga class, but before my appointment at the The Doggy Beauty Parlor. Ms Twinkles is overdue for a grooming and a toenail clipping. I swear, that dog takes tap dancing to a whole new height on my hardwood floors at 3 a.m. My Pomeranian thinks she’s Gene Kelly.
I found myself looking forward all day to my appointment with Relaxation. That’s right, I thought of Relaxation as a person I was meeting. Perhaps a long lost girlfriend, or a grandmotherly type, or a tanned cabana boy … ahem. Back to the badge at hand!
After Hot Yoga, I kinda wished I’d scheduled a few minutes to die properly. I had sweated away buckets, which sadly, in the world of physical fitness, meant I probably worked off half a blueberry muffin (sans butter). But, no matter! I had time to shower off, and then I found a perfect spot to meet with my elusive and mysterious Relaxation.
Evidently, Relaxation is not a punctual guy. I laid down in my favorite recliner and waited for him to arrive. Would he be soothing and gentle? Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound? Have a pencil thin mustache? My mind whirled. My thoughts swirled.
I. Could. Not. Find. The. Off. Switch. To. My. Brain.
ARGH! Stop thinking, Jane! I told myself, fiercely. Just relax! Relax! RELAX RIGHT NOW!
This badge was going to take longer than five minutes. This whole process was new to a get up and go kinda girl. I was lost. I decided to research a bit on the benefits of relaxation and the health hazards of stress. Turns out, the smartest, most successful, and happiest people in the world know the importance of little things like:
- saying “No” occasionally
- not over-committing
- getting a full night’s sleep (No, not just on the weekends! Every night!)
- recognizing what stresses you out and eliminating it
- surrounding yourself with your definition of beauty
Huh! Who knew, right? I always figured the most successful people were the ones running around like chickens with their heads cut off, having a million and one things to do, and people to hire to do it! Maybe after I redefine what relaxation means to me, I can redefine what success means to me …
Whoa. Getting deep here. Suddenly, I felt a weight off my chest. I felt lighter. More energized. Less stressed. Could it be *gulp* that I did it?! I calmed down, and (dare I say it?) relaxed?
And I didn’t even have to schedule it this time.
We wound up with 5 roosters and 19 hens. So far we have eaten 3 of the roosters. The eggs are fabulous!!! I had forgotten how good fresh farm eggs tasted and how beautiful they looked. Such large golden yolks and firm whites. I want to try my hand at pickling eggs at some point.”
These are just a few basics that we’ve used for much of our married life. I actually have two herb gardens. The first one was planted after we built our log house on the property my dad deeded to us from the farm. In that garden I have oregano, savory, chives, and mint. 
