Conor Cawley: The Power of Relaxation

I’m lazy. I feel like I’ve mentioned that on this blog before but, if I haven’t, it’s because, well, I’m lazy. This laziness has been an integral part of my life. Ever since my 5th grade teacher, Ms. Lattucca, allowed the shackles of homework to slide off my arms like a little unmotivated magician, laziness has been my middle name.

In fact, until recently, I was more than happy to sink my shoulders into a hideous “L” couch and watch Netflix until my eyes hurt . Unfortunately, my aspirations to sit on my butt and consume media like it’s going out of style have been hindered by a sudden jolt of ambition. Now, if I watch more than 5 episodes of a show in a row, I feel like I’m squandering my potential… what’s up with that?!

Well apparently, it’s something that comes with age. I recently made the jump passed my quarter-life crisis, and I feel like I’m running out of youth. Yes, I realize that sounds ridiculous. But my ambitious pursuit of a career in comedy is going to stop seeming cute and start seeming sad before I know it. And while being unmotivated has yielded a cavalcade of boring nights and uneventful mornings, a little bit of ambition can really stress a lazy guy out!

Dealing with the stress and exhaustion that comes from following your dreams on top of having a real job is often too much for people. And I can’t imagine I’m alone in thinking this. For me, the peak of this stress came after one of my many stand up shows this month. I left the show with a tooth ache and I thought I had a cavity. I went to the dentist and, instead of drilling holes in my teeth, he told me to go on vacation because apparently, the stress dreams I’d been having were causing me to clench my teeth at night.

Now I’m not saying a lack of motivation is going to help your oral hygiene. The last thing I want to do is go back to re-watching Family Guy episodes on repeat while my brains oozes out of my ears. But maybe, instead of constantly stressing about what I could or should be doing with my life, I should relax. I don’t mean write jokes on the beach. I don’t mean go to a comedy show that I’m not performing in. I mean, actually relax. Get away from the things that stress me out and actually take some time for myself:

Enjoy the newest episode of Modern Family without analyzing the structure. Go out to a bar and talk to someone without writing down funny things they say. Listen to music on the bus rather than the Kyle Kinane Pandora Station. These all seem innocent enough but when something permeates every inch of your life, it can be hard to look at it without a little bit of apprehension.

I guess what I’m trying to get across in this post is this: don’t let your life get in the way of living. Partially because you don’t want to miss the awesome stuff going on around you. But mostly because dentist appointments are surprisingly expensive.