Everywhere I looked these days I am seeing people who are exhausted. People are running from one thing to another and they are tired. People are living with no rhythm of rest in their life!
When we keep pushing forward without taking adequate time for rest and replenishment, our way of life may seem heroic but there is a frantic quality to our life.
When we are depleted, we become overly reliant on voices outside of ourselves to tell us what is going on. We react to symptoms rather than seeking to understand and respond to underlying causes.
Here’s the sad truth in all of us this:
“Sadly, the need for recovery is often viewed as evidence of weakness rather than an integral aspect of sustained performance. The result is that we give almost no attention to renewing and expanding our energy reserves.” Jim Loehr The Power of Full Engagement
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I felt this way when I went on my medical leave in 2007. I felt weak because I needed to take a break. I felt like a failure because I couldn’t keep doing what I was doing.
The rhythms of work and rest
The rhythms of work and rest are fundamental to our well-being. Jim Loehr in his book The Power of Full Engagement notes that,
“alternating periods of activity with periods of rest has been a means of maximizing performance among athletes since Flavius Philostratus wrote training manuals for Greek athletes in AD 170-245.”
Balancing stress and recovery is the key to managing energy not only for competitive athletes but also for all of us. I have heard that cultures that encourage people to seek intermittent renewal not only inspire greater commitment but also greater productivity.
3 ways to live out the rhythms of work and rest:
Here are a few ways that I am learning to live out the rhythms of work and rest in my life.
1. Take a Sabbath once a week.
Taking a Sabbath is very different from taking a day off. A day off is simply time off from our regular duties at our jobs. A Sabbath is a day of stopping, resting, delighting and contemplating.
We have to plan ahead if we actually want a day where we can do this because if we don’t it will never happen! Believe me I know from personal experience!
2. Schedule life around breaks instead of breaks around life.
Life is always going to have more things to do than can be accomplished in 24 hours. That is reality. If we don’t schedule life around self-care and breaks, they are NOT going to happen!
3. Take longer breaks throughout the year.
Not only do we need to stop once a week and take a break we also need to be taking longer breaks throughout the year. I am blessed to be able to take 4 weeks off a year. I try to take a 2 week break in the summer and then a one week break in the Fall and Spring. I have found this “rhythm” to be very helpful for me!
How do you live out the rhythms of work and rest?
***** This post was inspired by chapter 8 “Spiritual rhythms in the life of the leader” in Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership by Ruth Haley Barton.
A Few Related Posts You May Find Useful:
A Sabbath day
Sermon Synopsis 11/23 – Discovering the rhythms of the Daily Office and Sabbath
Thoughts on slowing down
Finding emotional rest
Do you live your life with intentionality?
How to find your focus in life
We were never meant to work seven days a week
15 thoughts to ponder about the importance of slowing down
Great practical wisdom and advice. No one can take a break for you and it has to be built in to our lives to work. Thanks Kevin.
Exactly Jason!
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing these wonderful ideas. I occasionally suffer from burnout and it’s not good for the heart and soul. I’ll have a thumbs up to what you wrote about taking longer breaks throughout the year. good for the body, brain, and your overall being as well.
We definitely need to be building regular breaks into our lives!
Thanks for sharing Emilia!
I’m glad I stopped by your post; I so need to build up and maintain this rhythm or else I would soon start to look like a zombie. Thanks for sharing.
Rhythm is definitely crucial to our overall betterment in life.
Thanks for sharing fatima!
Whatever your career may be, remember that even machines need rest, timeout. Taking a Sabbath once a week is a good choice
Yes it is!
Thanks for sharing Stacey.
This is one of my days off and I get to relax and think. I thought I do some reading and your one of my sources. So, while reading this article made me feel good the see you thinks as I do when it comes to taking more time off than being in production mode 24 hrs.
I live by little by little we shall gain much. I do not rush to do anything and that helps me so much. I love when you said build your time around breaks. That is what I do and love to travel just to relax and not on business stuff. I live to serve others and that is so relaxing for me. When you have a passion and love what you do. It is relaxing and not stressful makes a balance and harmony which I cannot share right now. Yet, happiness overwhelms me daily and I accept it.
Thank you again for a wonderful read that moves me.
Great thoughts William!
Thanks for sharing.
Its really a pleasure to have such a decent stuff again concerning “3 ways to live out the rhythms of work and rest” but I dint find 2 scenarios really to be practical and specially when you are possessing massive professional and household responsibilities.One phase may be that you can opt for relaxing work free life and second phase may be that you can opt for responsible life to carry on with your livelihood.
The most important key to this is recognizing the need for rest in our lives. We can’t work 24/7. We will eventually burn out. We need to make time in our schedule to re-fuel and rejuvenate ourselves.