Editors note: This is part one of a multi-part series of the lessons I have been learning during COVID-19. Hopefully this will be helpful to you in some capacity. If you have not read part I, CLICK HERE.
I am important because I have so much going on. I am what I do. These are things that engrained deep within me and I believed to be true. Phrases like “LIVE FAST DIE YOUNG”, “DRIVE FAST TAKE CHANCES”, “BURNING THE CANDLE AT BOTH ENDS” were supposedly a good thing that I wanted to do (and frankly it’s a miracle that I am alive today, because I may or may have not have taken the advice of “drive fast take chances” a little too literally as 16-year-old. If you are my insurance agent reading this, don’t worry I now drive like a responsible dad with a mortgage, wife, and kids at home). I thought that relaxing was for suckers. So much so, when I first graduated college, I used to say things like “yeah, I don’t have time to waste on [insert: video games / reading books for leisure / etc.]”. I felt this superiority complex about it, too. Frankly, I was exhausted and miserable—because I was trying to work as much as possible, go be with people all the time, or please people by saying “yes” to far too many things to “stay busy”.
With COVID-19 has come a new found sense of slowness. Places are closed. Routines have been disrupted. There is less to “do” for many of us. It has really helped me reassess my busyness, and how I utilize my time. Is being “busy” really good?
Turns out, working and being busy and not taking time to rest so much to the point that you’re getting 5-6 hours of sleep a night ISN’T healthy. Being a prideful douchebag about how busy you are also doesn’t help you make any friends, either. In fact, it probably pushes them away. In America, however, it seems that we thrive on this perceived idea of “busy-ness”. At times we can think that as long as we’re “busy”, that means that we are a more thriving and valuable member of society. We like to be needed by people. We like to be busy. I thought I was living large and in charge by staying busy all the time, but I kept asking myself, “why am I miserable?” Well what if I told you, humans aren’t wired to be “busy” all the time?
In fact, being this busy and stressed all the time can lead to heart disease, cancer, and death. It seems as though humans weren’t supposed to keep at a running pace all the time. It seems that we are wired to have to slow down at some point.
As a Christian, something I continually ignored was the idea of something called a “Sabbath”—or just taking one day out of your week to slow down, and REST. In the creation story (Genesis 1), God creates the earth in 7 days. And on the 7th day, God rests. (The point I’m making here has nothing to do with if God created the earth in a literal 7 days or not, so if that’s what you’re looking for you won’t find it here.) This is kind of crazy, because God is all-powerful, everywhere, and does not need to rest. So why is this in there?
“God resting” is here to show us that rest is so important. We are wired to take a day to rest. We need it. Our lives depend on the rhythm to our weeks, that includes a Sabbath. I’ve really started to try to embrace taking a day to slow down, and embracing it not only as a physical act, but as a mindset as well. When you live in the world, it can be pretty easy to get pissed off at people for “being too slow” or bringing a minor inconvenience to your life. Examples for me would be: walking too slowly in front of me, driving slower than the speed limit, taking too long to order in front of me at a coffee shop because they don’t know what they want. So I started to ask myself, “why is this annoying me?” Turns out they all have one thing in common—all these are slowing me down.
On Sundays, the only place I have to be that adheres to a time currently is church (currently on the internet). I decided to let Sundays be a time where minor inconveniences may be a reminder for me to slow down more. I have no place to be, and if I am running late for church (yes even on my own couch it still happens), it’s generally my own fault (I have been known to walk in late to church with a coffee in my hand a time or two or 70 times 7 times [that last part is a niche joke for people who know Bible trivia and if you got it and laughed, congratulations you too are also kind of a dweeb welcome to the club]). I try to not get frustrated with people moving slow, and I am slowly trying to integrate this into my life throughout my week as well. This could be a great reminder of the idea of getting ready to rest up for one day of my week.
I believe that we were created not only to work hard, but to also take time to rest. To relax. In the past 4 years, I have begun to learn the importance of slowing down. Heck, I bought a PS4 and probably play video games a couple hours a week (turns out, it’s pretty fun, and relaxing if you’ve had a long week!) I’ve also started taking a day to rest. That day? Sundays. It sets me up for a good rhythm for my week, and makes it so I have the energy to crush it for the week. Taking 2 hours just to eat breakfast and drink coffee and bum around my place? Going for a run after said slowly eating breakfast and drinking coffee? Heading to church after kicking it at my favorite local coffee shop (currently for outdoor seating) / getting outside to read and write? THAT’S WHAT SUNDAYS ARE FOR, BAY-BEE!
If there is anything you take away from this post, I want you to know if you’re working too much and not taking a day to rest—STOP. Whether you’re a Christian or not, you need a day to rest. Your mental health, physical health, and spiritual health will thank you. Burning the candle at both ends is a great way to have nothing left to burn at all. Rest is good. Rest well.