Exhale—and rest

As you begin a new year, are you starting it with a long to-do list, a list of projects and shoulds? Or have you built in some time for rest and restoration as well? Those don't necessarily have to be in opposition to one another. For example, as one man said, "My wife finds working in the garden restful. I prefer to simply rest in my chair, enjoying the fruits of her labor."

Many people think that rest is for children, old people or the sick. Perhaps you grew up, as I did, with the message that you should not sit and not relax until the work was done. And, of course, since I grew up on a farm, the work never was done!

But here's a thought from 20th century Trappist monk Thomas Merton: "To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects ... is to succumb to violence." And, as many people point out, even God rested after creation activities (see Genesis 2:2). In an Exodus version (31:17), it says, "In six days God made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day God rested and was refreshed." According to pastor, speaker and retreat leader Jane E. Vennard, the Hebrew word usually translated "refreshed" in that Exodus passage literally means "and God exhaled."

That's good for us to remember as we start a whole new year: Breathe in, breathe out. Remember to breathe. Take time to exhale!

Unplug and decompress

Have you ever had one of your electronic devices seize up or not function properly? No, that never happens, right? Hmmm, yup, far too often. Often, when we simply unplug the device or turn it off for a while, something gets reset and it will work properly when we turn it back on.

Don't you wonder why we don't think of that in relation to our own operating systems? Sometimes we simply need to be "unplugged" for a while. We need to step off the crazy treadmill of work, caregiving, volunteering, parenting, or just life and all its craziness—and let ourselves have a few moments (or even more than a "few moments") of peace and relaxation.

We need to decompress and get centered and grounded again. If that's good for our devices, it definitely should be good for us, too. It reboots and resets our brains and all systems, helps us unwind, improves our concentration, increases our creativity and problem-solving ability, enhances relationships and makes us more productive. This isn't just good for us; it's also good for our children, who also need unstructured time.

Interestingly enough, studies at the University of Michigan found that a lack of "me" time or privacy is actually a bigger cause of unhappy marriages than a less-than-satisfying sex life. So there you go. Give yourself the gift of time and learn how to unplug.

Winter's cues for us

Where I live, it's winter right now. It's cold. The flowers and bushes that surround my house look dead. All dried up. Some have been cut back for winter. Others will be cut back in early spring. So we typically think of winter as the time when everything is dead, nothing is growing.

But think about it. Lots is happening under the ground. Things are preparing for that time just a few short months from now when they'll burst forth with new shoots and fill the world with color once again. So, although we can't see it, lots of growth is taking place. Rest allows renewal and prep time for rebirth.

Perhaps we can take our cues from the plant world. Animals do this, too, since many of them hibernate. Some simply slow down, trying to exist on what little food they've stored away somewhere or can find underneath the snow.

Winter is a good time for us to rest and be restored, too. Slow down. Rest. Let the inner juices flow quietly and calmly and think about where your creativity might take you this year. Then when spring arrives and you feel the same surge of energy that plants do, you'll be ready for the rebirth and growth that are coming.

How can you use this winter time? What inner preparations might you need to make so 2016 will be fruitful?

Deep breaths. Slow down.

My Mary Engelbreit calendar page for last Saturday/Sunday featured a delightful picture of a child on his back in the grass smelling a flower and watching fluffy clouds float by. Ah, it just slowed down my heartbeat to stare at that for a while. The words accompanying the photo, attributed to philosopher and writer Bertrand Russell, were: "The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time."

Indeed. While we know in our heads that time to just be (rather than to do) isn't wasted, we still may not feel that in our guts, in our hearts. Is it really OK to just sit and ponder? To just stare at a tree or the clouds? It may be OK for a child (I remember doing that as a little girl) to lie on her back and stare at the clouds. But I'm grown up now and should be productive.

But did you know there's a whole global movement dedicated to slowing down? It's actually called The Slow Movement. It's a response to the deep desire of people to reverse the trend of a frantic, chaotic lifestyle. It addresses the issue of "time poverty" that so many face today. This movement is about re-connecting, with ourselves, our families and each other, with life. It's about rest and renewal.

We don't have to be part of a movement to find incremental steps to address the time poverty in our own lives. If you are worn out from running so fast and want to change your lifestyle, why not come up with three or four things you can do to slow it down? Might you say "No" to some obligations that don't feed you? Are there some unnecessary things you can drop from your schedule or to-do list? Or if you're really desperate for change, is there even something major you want to change right now?

I'd love to hear in the Comment box below if you've already made changes in this regard. The rest of us need ideas and encouragement. Thanks, if you're willing to share.