To Rest Or Not To Rest?

This week’s post is inspired by a conversation I had with a lady while attending this year’s ‘Be Inspired’ Conference, organised by Yorkshire Ladies Link, on International Women’s Day.

We were talking and touched on the subject of taking time for ourselves as women. This struck an immediate chord with me because I struggle with taking time for myself and not filling my days with activities.

I want to be productive and sometimes I take this to mean being productive every waking moment.

There is nothing wrong with attempting to be productive every waking hour as long as what we define as ‘being productive’ is balanced and right.

I was given a pyjama with the inscription, ‘Never Sleeps’ and it is a fitting description as I often work late into the night.

Late last year, I decided to rejoin the gym in a bid to be healthier. I soon found myself struggling with how much time this took from my day.

I would be more focused on what I wasn’t doing rather than being present in the moment.

I paid attention to my thoughts and realised I was feeling guilty about taking that time away from other activities. Sadly I didn’t see it as giving the time to myself.

I was seeing from the wrong lens because I didn’t see time spent on myself as being productive or as an investment. This is a wrong way of thinking.

One day I was in the spa clock watching and criticising myself for being there. I paused and looked back over my life.

I reminded myself I had a part-time job as an undergraduate. I considered the fact that I had worked for over three decades without feeling bad about the long days and commutes.

I asked myself why it was such a big deal to spend two hours getting myself healthier.

There was no answer that made sense so, I said No to further self-judgement.

Prior to joining the gym, I would wake up with a sore lower back and it would take moving around for a couple of hours before the pain would go. Soon after joining the gym, all the stiffness, aches and pains disappeared.

In reality, spending time on myself at the gym meant I wasn’t losing the time to the stiffness and the pain.

As a Christian, I read in the Bible that God rested after working for six days and if I am smart, I ought to take a cue from that. Rest can’t be so bad after all.

Our bodies are more complex than the most complicated computers, but even those have downtimes, go through servicing, upgrades and fine-tuning.

What are the equivalents of these for us? I think they include the right nourishment, rest, exercise, sleep and meditating in the right way.

We need to understand that we are spirits, souls and bodies and each of these parts needs to be nurtured and invested into in the right ways.

Many of us focus on our spirits and souls but treat our bodies as means to some ends. In truth, we have this one body to get us through this life so how and what we do to it will deliver a consequential dividend.

My decision to join the gym also meant I paid more attention to what I ate, my sleeping and thought patterns.

I’m connecting with other people and having more creative and productive ideas.

Overall, robbing ‘Productive Stuff’ of two hours and giving ‘Myself’ the two hours has been one of my best decisions. And I have no doubt it’s a ‘God-honouring’ one.

As one that sees herself as a created being, what better way to show my gratitude than to nurture and maximise the gift I have been given?

Are there any changes that you need to make to your choices with regards to your spirit, soul, and body? Today is a great day to start.

Thanks for reading my post. Please comment, like and share with others. See you next week. In the meantime, here’s to a healthier and more purposeful you.