Warning Signs that We Need Rest: Finding Motivation to Change Our Way of Life
From the Monday Mission, September 21, 2020
Welcome to another Monday and another Mission. You and I are alive and kicking today, so let's take a moment to celebrate that. Pop some La Croix or an iced coffee or whatever you have handy!
And now I must ask you a personal question. Are you a napper?
I find that people either love naps or have no use for them. It wasn't until my first pregnancy that I could lay my head down on the sofa in the middle of the day, guilt-free, and it felt SO GOOD.
I was able to submit to this need because I believed it to be good for the little nugget I was growing. But how did I feel about taking a break from life or work, or going to bed early for my own health? Thumbs down. Resting was for vacation.
I was terrible at giving my body and mind the things they needed to feel well and thrive. As a result, I was living stressed out, anxious and depleted all the time. I’m embarrassed to say that it took a lot of chronic pain to slow this crazy circus down and force me to consider making LIVING AT REST my way of life (still a work in progress).
Our bodies have ways of letting us know we are overworked or stressed out: Fatigue, Aches/Pains, Anxiety, Restlessness, Difficult with sleep, Poor digestion, Depression, Mental fog.
Have you experienced any of these?
For the next few weeks we are going to talk about what living at rest can look like (It's not just sleep!), why it’s important, and how to make it happen. I believe we can choose peace without rest, but rest creates an easier on-ramp to peace for us.
And there have been 3 key realizations that have helped me to appreciate rest and get motivated enough to prioritize it. Whether you are a napper or not, I think they can help you too.
3 Keys About Rest
1. Rest is a way to honor and love myself, and vicariously love my family (because when mom is tired, she is cranky, and when she is cranky, watch out everybody!)
2. Rest doesn't equal boredom or even sleep. Rest is also about making time for enjoyment, for things that fill us up and fuel us.
3. Rest is a WAY of doing things, not just TIME that we relax. We can go about life in a restful way, or in a rushed stressed out kind of way.
I’m going to unpack all of this more in the coming weeks, and I welcome your input as to why and how you make rest part of your lives. I would love to share some of your feedback with our community.
Our Monday Mission for this week is simply to take inventory of how you are doing with rest. Ask yourself these questions.
1. How does my body physically feel on a regular basis? What is my norm? You can even get it a scale from 1-10 if that helps.
2. How is my mental health on a regular basis? What is my norm? Write down the words that come to mind, such as Calm, Energetic, Tired, Grumpy, Anxious, etc.
This isn’t a time for self-condemnation. We all have changes that need to be made and God will be revealing new things for us until we die. So let’s just take a non-judgmental moment to consider where we are at, how we feel about that, and if it’s where we want to be.
Let’s have a quick prayer…”God, thank you for making me. Thank you for the air in my lungs today. Help me to honestly evaluate how I’m doing with rest and to give myself grace for my own, personal journey. Help me not to compare to others. Please bring new insight into what I can do to feel my best and to accomplish all of the good things you have for my life. Amen.”
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