Seventh Day

I have been under the weather the past couple of days.  I am not sure what I have but it has been draining all the energy out of me.  I haven’t worked out since Tuesday and I can feel it.  Yesterday I came home early and took a nap.  It helped so much to lay down for an hour and just sleep.  When I woke up I was able to get some things done before I crashed again.  Today was the same thing.  After a good night’s sleep I was feeling good this morning and got some stuff done but then this afternoon it hit me like a ton of bricks.  I had to take another nap to get me going enough to get up and write my blog entries. 

It is amazing what rest will do for your body.  Sleep reenergizes you and allows you to continue going.  Back in college I used to take thirty minute power naps in the afternoon to get me though my day.  They were amazing.  I had forgotten just how much more you can get done when you are well rested.  I try to sleep at least eight hours every night.  Sometimes that happens and sometimes it doesn’t. 

Life is so busy and we get caught up in it.  We get so caught up in life that we don’t even take vacations from work.  I think a lack of rest is truly what ends up wearing us down.  We don’t stop to reenergize before we take on more or keep going.  I have been healthy for around six months now but just as I have a stretch coming up where I have a lot going on over the next month, I catch something.  Why now?  I think it’s because I haven’t take time to rest.  Although I haven’t had a ton going on, I still haven’t relaxed and reenergize. 

We have to do that, and who sets the best and most vivid example of that for us?  That’s right, God.  God created the world and on the seventh day he did what?  He rested.  That shows me that it is okay to take the time to recharge.  Why should we keep going day after day and not take time to hit the reset button?  We would be more productive if we had that extra sleep or day of rest.  We could do more on the days we did work if we actually took a day to relax and just let our mind refocus and our body recharge. 

God has given us so much in our lives.  We have worked hard to get it but we neglect a lot of including our families when we don’t stop and spend time with them.  I know that we have to work to make a living.  I know there are bills to be paid and house upkeep to be done, but what about self upkeep?  Are you doing that?  Are you taking care of you?

It is time to make that a priority.  It is time for a day of rest.  It is time for you to recharge and come back out into the world at full strength.  Make that happen.  Plan your own seventh day and rest.  Take a power nap or just a plain old long nap!  Enjoy time with your family without having to make it a big deal.  It’s time for a break.  I know if I would just take one now and then, I wouldn’t feel so run down.  Let’s make a change and take a little time to ourselves.