My mornings generally start early, even when the previous night kept me up late. Staying up late (midnight) and getting up early (5 am) does not make for a productive start to the morning. It only aggravates my internal clock. The day pounds its heavily weighted fist on the desk with a myriad of tasks to get started, keep working on, or ensure it’s ready for live action! There are few to delegate anything to, and my acceptance of all the extra work is indicative of my work ethic that has a hard time saying, “No!”
In other words, there doesn’t seem to be a “slow down” time. If you do not find the time, I suspect, you are simply working yourself into an early grave, burning the proverbial candle at both ends which will shorten your years of productivity.
How do you handle this?
For me, it’s first and foremost that I turn to the scripture to find words to help me comprehend my situation and the inevitable treasure trove of ideas that help me. Only if I put them to work!
This morning, the words of Jesus speak ever so softly to me, just as he did to his busy disciples who have not even had a moments breath to stop and sustain themselves.
And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. (Mark 6:31 NKJV)
Come aside. By yourselves. To a deserted place. Rest.
Simple words. Simple thoughts. Profound Wisdom!
We know this to be true, yet we are hard pressed to find that short window of opportunity to come aside, by ourselves, to a place with no distractions, and simply… Rest…
I’ve been a proponent of what I call “Power Naps.”. These are not the rest periods of hours, rather, it’s the quiet sitting back in the seat, leaning the head back and closing the eyes to the distractions. You have to learn to shut down your ears so they do not hear! And the mind needs to rest so it doesn’t keep going a million miles per hour! But you can rest! In 10-15 minutes my eyes pop open and I feel the refreshment of Power!
It was Winston Churchill that believes naps were necessary. In the book, Gathering Storm (Pg 374, Kindle version), he speaks:
“I always went to bed at least for one hour as early as possible in the afternoon, and exploited to the full my happy gift of falling almost immediately into deep sleep. By this means I was able to press a day and a half’s work into one. Nature had not intended mankind to work from eight in the morning until midnight without that refreshment of blessed oblivion which, even if it only lasts 20 minutes, is sufficient to renew all the vital forces.”
Now. I’m not a proponent of doing this every day, nor for an hour. But just 10-15 minutes of rest often revitalizes me equal to the task at hand!
Many years ago, Mom gave me a printed poem by Orin L Crain. I’ve researched it enough to know that I think he was ahead of his time back in 1957. As the world has become so technologically advanced we all know that we could connect to the internet all day long and never see all there is to see! I’ve seen Crain’s word in the format of a poem, and a journaled paper. Here’s my preference.
Slow me down, Lord! Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind. Steady my harried pace with a vision of the eternal reach of time. Give me, amidst the confusions of my day, the calmness of the everlasting hills.
Break the tensions of my nerves with the soothing music of the sighing streams that live in my memory. Help me to know the magical restoring power of sleep.
Teach me the art of taking minute vacations of slowing down to look at a flower; To chat with an old friend or to make a new one; To pat a stray dog, To watch a spider build a web; To smile at a child; Or to read a few lines from a good book.
Remind me each day that the race is not always to the swift; that there is more to life than increasing its speed. Let me look upward into the branches of the towering oak and know that it grew slowly and well.
Slow me down, Lord, and inspire me to send my roots deep into the soil of life’s enduring values that I may grow toward the stars of my great destiny.
~Orin L Crain
How about you? Do you have scheduled rests built into your day? Can you pause a second or two and turn it into 10 or 15 minutes? It will do you wonders!