We live in a world where things are moving at such a fast pace. We have work, commitments, friends, household duties, shopping and that's just part of it. Everything takes up so much time and energy. Sometimes it can be overwhelming. This non-stop life with a fraction of time for the things we want to do. We want to get things done, we want to do fun things, we don't want to sit around and do nothing.
I felt this a lot in my own life lately. There was always things to do and I wasn't taking enough time for myself to rest. The result is that I felt both mentally and physically exhausted most of the time. As much as I love people and I love keeping busy, I didn't take that time to rest. I'm still recovering actually.
I went through a breakup last month and since then I've just kept myself super busy. I've had some great moments, it's not like I've only been feeling tired but I've felt a lot more tired than usual most days. Not only that I've had so much on my mind, I haven't been sleeping on most days either. You will be amazed what a lack of sleep can do to your life. It affects your concentration, your mood, your thoughts, your energy, everything.
When we are young we have an abundance of energy and time. I remember in my teenage years how much time I had to meet friends for coffee or make plans or do anything that I wanted to do. I remember I had so much more energy too. In those days we take that for granted. In our adult life our time gets consumed, most of it by work and commitments and a bit for friends/ activities.
What gave me the greatest time where I was able to rest last month was a solo trip to Madrid where I stayed in a hostel for my first time. It was great to switch off and explore a new place and meet new people. It was just nice being away from the normal routine of things. Sometimes travel is good for that, it gives you a nice break away.
You need to give yourself a break, you need to rest. It is so important. I can't do everything, I can't reply everyone or send messages all the time or call people all the time or post or like millions of things on social media. I am 30 now this month and something I realised in 30 years of life is life gets so busy. I am busy. There are so many of us who are so busy with our lives and the things we have got to do. I've spoken to people who find this in their own lives. We have all these commitments but where are we finding time for ourselves. Are we resting?
I can happily say today that I did rest. Look at that one day, what an inspiration. This will be one of many hopefully. I rested and I feel rested. I spent time reading and relaxing in the sun. My life got so busy I also didn't give God enough time either but I felt so much more connected to God today.
I want to make changes in my life where I can get more rest and I've already started. You see if you want to rest it's all up to you to make it happen. It's not always about how much you work or not it's about what you do in between, what are you choosing to do in your free time. Does it make you feel rested?
I found a song this morning while lying in my garden in the sun called I Will Rest In You by the Gardiner Sisters. That song really made me think, the closer we are to God the more rested we feel too because our focus is on Him, God at the centre. It's when we get caught up in the busyness (not sure if that's an actual word) of life sometimes that it gets too much.
This is their song below. They are actually really amazing singers, all sisters, you should look them up on youtube. I am reading a book by them at the moment called Sister Strong by Hailey and Mandi Gardiner.
Take the time to relax and rest! Put your feet up! Go on a vacation! Exercise! Spend more time with your family and friends! Read a book! Listen to music! Go to church! Pray! Read your bible! Do whatever you need that makes you feel rested. Take time for you.
I hope you have all had a nice relaxing weekend and feel rested, except my friends in healthcare where we work weekends, no rest for us. I am only joking. I was actually off this weekend. I do 14 hour shifts. Whether you worked or not, I hope you do take the time out of your "busy" schedule to rest, it will make you feel a lot better.
This blog post was brought to you by the switch off, relax and rest society writing about common sense that we should do as adults but don't.
It's funny how sometimes it's just simple things we need to do but we don't do. It just shows how the smallest things in life can make the biggest difference.
With that I will love and leave you,
Until I write again,
I shall give you some rest between by blog posts (but not too long),
Nicola Hill
No comments:
Post a Comment