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In a previous blog post I gave several tips on how to "Live a Balanced Life."
As I have pondered this, I think the hardest for me is number 7 - giving myself permission to relax. I have a very hard time with this. Like most of society I am programmed that if I am not doing 'something' I am wasting time. Take now for instance, I have nothing that I have to do tonight. Yet here I am posting in my blog...I have an incessant need to feel productive.
Even if I am doing something that I am not sure many people will find useful. Something that is only useful to myself, I have to do it. I can only sit and do nothing for so long without feeling like I am being lazy. Which is something I need to work on.
I know the pitfalls of always being active and never having any down time. I understand why rest is important. But it is a hard to do.
The Jewish people have a concept of a Sabbath rest. This is basically taking one day in seven away from work, away from the chores of life and just resting. This is based upon the fact that God created all of creation in six days and on the seventh He "rested" from His labor (See Genesis 2:1-3).
I am beginning to believe that there is something in this. For the Jewish people there are many spiritual and physical benefits related to the Sabbath, but I am seriously beginning to see a benefit to this. Taking one day of the week, to basically hit the 'reset' button on life.
Farmers will even let their fields "rest" by not planting them for a season and letting them return to seed. This, depending on the crop, greatly improves the quality of the future crops.
So I will encourage you as I encourage myself. To find time to rest and relax. To allow yourself time to be unproductive. To not feel the need to fill every moment of everyday with a project, goal or work.
Thoughts on Life and Faith
About Me
- Joshua Strickler
- Joshua Strickler is a graduate of George Fox University. He is the volunteer Worship Arts Pastor at Living Way Fellowship in Tigard, OR and is currently seeking full time employment.
He currently sings with the Portland Symphonic Choir, the official chorus of the Oregon Symphony.
He has served on the board of directors for the Rotary Club of Tigard, the Rotary District 5100 RYLA Committee, has been a guest speaker at local Rotary and Rotaract clubs and has been a guest worship leader at churches in Oregon, Washington and Alaska.
All views presented herein represent those of the author and unless specifically stated do not represent the opinions of the organizations in which the author associates.
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Complicated by Joshua Strickler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
5 comments:
It is so funny that you wrote this, today of all days. My day was insane! I've overcommitted and stretched myself so thin that I don't ever rest and get 5 - 6 hours of sleep a night. I think we should all take the Lord's commandments more seriously and actually rest on the Sabbath!
Excellent observation...I'm usually go go go go go go go go go (ad nauseam)but I make sure that, at least once a week, I come home from work and say "i'm doing nothing but watch tv and play music for my own relaxation tonight." No practicing music for ensembles, no writing/reviewing/blogging/fundraising activities.
Down time is severely underrated...
Having overcommitted myself through high school and somewhat in college and paid the price, I have been harping on the idea of rest for years. I think the key is balance. We are a very overcommitted culture. I think the key is to know your limit and reach the point where you have to say, "I am full. If I take on anything new, I must drop something else." I had to teach myself that it's ok to say you don't have time for a new project. It's better to do a few things well than many things badly. When I rest, I may not be doing nothing, but do something that I want to do. I havent made deep study of the concept of the sabbath, but I'm not sure that the new testament has completely exempted us of the idea of a day of rest.
I understand how that goes. I feel completely guilty if I take time out to do nothing. Thanks for the reminder that its okay to rest occasionally.
Good News! I was able to take my own advice this weekend. I had quite a bit of down-time. It felt very odd, but I feel so much better afterwards.
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