Rest – That Pesky 4 Letter Word
I’ve found that often in life when God is trying to tell us something or we have something to learn, that we are inundated with messages focused on that theme from EVERYwhere. Do you? Everywhere you look: every store you go into, every YouTube video on your feed, every Facebook post, every Tweet points to this ONE BIG THING. I don’t believe in coincidences any longer and so I know it’s by divine design, however you define that, that those common, relentless, nagging, loud themes clamoring for my attention on the outside, are also doing the same from within. I don’t even have to “get quiet” to hear them because if I actually DID slow down and get quiet, then there wouldn’t be a problem in the first place…at least with this particular topic. REST. Ooooohhhh. Yep, I said it and the fact that I’m posting on this, Sunday, the day created for rest is no coincidence.
I think we all might struggle more with the “R” word than any other. That word is almost more forbidden and audacious than other profanity in our culture. It is, in fact, preparation for what is ahead versus recovery, and yet most of us, consistently avoid it, forbid it and put it behind every thing else, planning for it AFTER we’ve met any of the following criteria: earned it, deserved it, required it or been instructed by higher medical authorities to get it (as in “you MUST or you will be met with some catastrophic medical malady”). Whether our American culture, or our human nature, we tend to put Rest last versus first, and yet it was designed to be a precursor to busy days, chaotic schedules and arduous tasks. When did we get it all mixed up? Even the timing of this blog, before or at the start of the school year or a new season at work, career, relationship..whatever it is that starts anew for you in the Fall, is an attempt to put rest ahead rather than having it trail behind. The “R word” can wait patiently until we cannot ignore our need for it, or we can give it its full power and acknowledge that it should be happening now, ahead of the journey. Our choice…
Arianna Huffington recently sat down with Marie Forleo to discuss her latest book, The Sleep Revolution (see www.marieforleo.com). She reminds us all that our bodies require rest. In fact, as Rick Warren says, “our best requires rest”. It’s how we were built. How our bodies are designed to function optimally and yet we consistently challenge ourselves to require less of it. We even see it as a badge of great achievement and endurance when we “don’t need it”, or so we claim. The reasons behind why we resist it, why we don’t yield to our body’s need for it, and why we continually find ways to temporarily get by with a minimal amount of it, are different for everyone. Yet there are some common themes that will allow insight into ourselves AND into ways that truly do provide our bodies and souls with true rest.
The deep answer..
In a painting there is what is called “white space”. At the risk of sounding obvious, it is the space in between the colors – literally white space. We don’t often think of the function of the white space…what is it’s “why” for existing? Why does the artist include it? The white space serves a very critical function in that it provides context for the colors, provides depth and movement to the painting, allows the viewer to see that which the artist is trying to convey. Without white space, it would all be a indecipherable mish mosh of colors, blurred images that just blend lazily into one another. Without white space, nothing is as brilliant or interesting or as functional. It’s the same with our lives. White space…the quiet, seemingly “empty”, RESTING space in between moments, relationships, projects…space between anything is sometimes, no often times, difficult to appreciate. We’re not comfortable there because it is in the quiet moments in between that a truer part of our souls is revealed than when there is noise. That’s the deep answer.
The not-quite-so-intense answer…
We feel like inept “resters”. We sometimes don’t know HOW to rest or we need to feel that even rest time is “productive” time. So, if faced with that dilemma, throw caution to the wind and just go for it — pay attention to the first thing that comes to mind and do that which sounds most restful and most re-energizing. Just rest into it.
The benefits?
1) Refreshed mentally – rest allows our minds to decompress and, much like muscle recovery, our minds will then come back with more power and more energy if given a chance to “power down”;
2) Refreshed physically – our bodies, including our levels of the stress hormone cortisol, need to be in a relaxed, restful, and non-reactive state in order to respond fully and stay alert, focused, mindful when it’s necessary. If we keep the accelerator pressed to the floor, the engine WILL burn out and we don’t have a choice in the matter. The body is finite, rest allows us to be closer to infinite.
3) Refreshed spiritually – our spirits need time to process deeply and to connect to the energy that only comes from God, or your higher power. That can only occur when we are in a meditative or restorative state. We can’t get there in the chaotic milieu of running all the time.
4) Refreshed relationally – Those closest to us, even those not close to us, benefit when we restore ourselves. It gives them permission to do the same, and, let’s face it, it makes us a whole lot easier to be around when we are not running on empty. So let’s visit some of those ways to rest and reasons to do it, which will show us up fully, authentically, as God intended us to be…
RESTED. Ahhh…