The Purpose Of: Rest
I’m not an athlete anymore. I played some ball as a child and a teenager then spent some time in the Marine Corps after high school so exercise and physical fitness became such a huge part of my life. Push ups, sit ups, pull ups, and running were daily occurrences for us. Athletes have learned to pay attention to a handful of things and the more serious the athlete the more serious they pay attention to these things. They are attentive to their training routine to include things like workouts, diet, gear, and pulse. They are also attentive to their bodies, how they are feeling, and making sure they rest and recover. I saw an interview with Alex Bregman of the Houston Astros a few years ago talking about his routine. He broke down his workouts, diet, etc. and then when he talked about his rest and recovery he had made a significant change recently. A teammate of his told him he needed to sleep longer at night because of how hard his body had to work every day. He started doing that and talked about the difference. His rest changed how he trained and he saw the impact.
I’ve found myself in a new season of life. My summer is a busy one. As a student pastor I’m often at camps and trips and this past year I even had a couple speaking engagements I had to do. That routine has become somewhat normal for those of us that are in student ministry. The interesting thing is, many people think things slow down for us once summer wraps up and truthfully, it doesn’t. I’d argue that it’s just as busy it just looks different. We’re transitioning back to routine, prepping and planning services and teaching, attending student sporting events, prepping for our fall and winter events, not to mention our family time. I’m back to bringing my kids to school and picking them up daily and this year my kids are at two different schools. I have to block out roughly and hour and half to two hours (before and after) daily to get them to and from school mostly just sitting in some form of traffic. I DON’T LIKE SITTING IN TRAFFIC! I do this Monday through Friday. Here’s why I share this with you, Friday is my day off. I still get up at the same time and get my kids to school and then I head home. Some days I do projects around the house but most days I chill out. I try to rest and then on Saturday I’ll look to get my projects accomplished. This season I find myself in now though is one I don’t feel like I rest. In fact, just the other day I was having a conversation with my wife telling her just that. Through some conversations with her and truly myself and God I realized that I have to find a new “resting pulse” in this new season I find myself in.
Great athletes understand that their resting pulse is just as important, if not more, than their pulse while running. Your resting pulse is your baseline, your zero, that you do everything else from. If my resting pulse is at a thirty out of a hundred I have to amp myself up to reach normal levels of activity and if I keep going this direction I’ll eventually have to use other stimulants to get there. I’m not even talking about weird or illegal stuff but I think it’s something that could be eventually reached if we’re not mindful. Obviously there’s some literal nature to this but don’t miss the metaphor. On most Friday’s I stay on my couch, nap, and the like but yet I don’t feel rested.
I don’t know about you but I have a hard time turning the “to do” list off in my mind. I can rarely downshift my brain and because my brain is in “work mode” on my days off my body, emotions, adrenaline, dopamine, and the like follow suit. Even though my body is a “body at rest,” everything within my body is in go mode. I recognize this in myself but that doesn’t fix the problem. Acknowledgment is a part of the solution but things don’t change just because we admit there’s something not right. For me, some of this is getting a good understanding of my new rhythm and pace. So what do we do then? How do we, how do I, find rest?
For me, one of the first things I have to do is get a good understanding of this new season I find myself in. Yeah, today it’s busy but I’ll find some routine and some rhythm. Structure is helpful for me and as I find the ins and outs of my daily routine I can structure my time and decisions accordingly. I don’t like leaving projects unfinished but sometimes that happens. I have to learn to either finish the project before I leave on Thursday or know it can wait.
Another thing is, I need to have conversations with my inner circle. The people in my life I trust the most and know me need to know how I’m feeling and what I’m walking through. This allows them to support me and check on me. As I mentioned earlier my wife is one of those people whom I can talk to but I’m grateful that she knows me so well that she sees it coming. For me this plays out in some unique ways. I have a tendency to wear my emotions on my sleeve which means people know if I’m happy, frustrated, angry, etc. but they don’t know why until I speak up. I’m also an enneagram 8, which means I have a tendency to withdraw in these seasons. I have to be very intentional to speak up.
I think one of the biggest things I need to do, and this is probably true of you as well, is say no. I have to say no to things or at least not right now to things. The person I have to learn to say no to the most is me. When we learn to say no or not now it gives us time and some margin that would have been filled with that project or item. When I say no to myself I give myself permission to have some space in my brain to downshift and allow all that’s within me to do the same. Have you ever thought about how to build a fire? You start with kindling and then smaller sticks and then a little bigger. Eventually you can put logs on. In order for that fire to grow and be it’s best, though, space is required. Air and oxygen make an ember a fire. Our lives are the same way. This isn’t something I’m doing well currently and I have all kinds of reasons for that. However, I know I need rest and need it regularly so that I can continue to be the husband, father, pastor, brother, and leader others need me to be. When I, and the truth is we, don’t do this we’ll eventually burn out and in my case burn out bright but the crash will be just as spectacular.
Let me ask you one more question and it’s one a friend of mine has asked. Have you ever seen a gas tanker truck on the side of the road because it’s run out of gas? It has all the gas others need to keep their cars going but not the gas to get it to them. When we don’t rest we eventually run out of gas and those in our lives don’t get what they need of us.
What about you? Do you have good rhythms and rest in your routine or are you figuring this out? I would encourage you, as I am myself, to be intentional with this and find some rest. Stay the course! You have what it takes!