Learning To Rest

Why is it in our society we see rest and quietness as something wrong, or temporary? We treat rest more like a privilege than a necessity.

Do you get so busy that you forget to enjoy life? I recently went on a weeks vacation, and although I was busy sightseeing and going, it was a different type of busy. I was with my husband, my loved ones, seeing the beauty. For those who know me or who have followed my blog, you know that photography is my way to disconnect, to connect with our Creator and see the beauty He has created. It's been months since I intentionally picked up my camera, actually close to a year. I have not had my 'photo days' where I grab the dog and the camera and just go take photos. I will admit that because of busyness and lack of rest, my creativity has taken a vacation, and I was just breezing through the day, not seeing the sunsets, the flowers, the beauty. I do not want to live that type of life. It's not truly living if you are not experiencing life.

Rest is more than a nap. Rest is more than an hour massage or a day off. Sometimes we feel guilty that we haven't rested so we 'schedule' a couple hours of rest, and it becomes just like all of our other commitments we have on our to do list. Our rest becomes a task to accomplish and we become more and more exhausted.

I know many who have told me they had to become sick, to become well. They had to be knocked down with chronic illness, probably caused by too much busyness and not enough rest, to find out how important true, real rest is for all of us. Through these journeys, they have also found out that wealth and success as the world sees it are not what matters in life. The love and laughter of family and friends is what matters. Relationships matter. Rest matters. Real rest.

Chronic busyness causes chronic stress which causes chronic illness. I know. I have recently been diagnosed with one. Yet, I am struggling to prioritize my life to get well. My doctor has given me a warning to slow down, yet I keep going, I keep doing, I keep striving for worldly applause and success. The more I strive for these things, the worse my health is, and the worse I feel. A couple days ago, God made a loud point and made me so dizzy and fatigued, I could not do anything else but rest. I slept. I sat out under our big twisted willow tree and listened to the birds, the sound of the wind, neighbor kids laughing, hummingbirds buzzing over my head, and silence.

We get busy and we forget to pay attention to our life, to our loved ones, to our faith, and to our health. We don't see the beauty, we just get in a mode of doing, not living.  We stare at computer and phone screens, thinking we are connected but instead we are deeply disconnected from life and relationships.

I have been rudely awakened to the importance of rest and real relationships through my body having a revolt against my busyness. While I am not thrilled to be dealing with a chronic illness right now, I am thankful that I have been awakened to the life I was living and what it has been doing to my body.

I am in a new season. A season of restoring my health, reconnecting with God, learning to be still, knowing that rest is healthy not bad, and getting intentionally connected with friends and family face to face...these are what matter in life. These are the things that leave a legacy, not busyness.

What needs to change for you today to restore healthy rest, to connect with people face to face, to be still, to see the beauty that surrounds you every day? Make the changes and truly live the life you have been given. It is a gift.

Screen Disease

The other day, my husband and I were grabbing a coffee, sitting in the sun, and having a conversation. At the table next to us were two parents, with three children under the age of 9. Mom and dad were both staring at their phones, never speaking a word. No words, just staring at screens. The two older kids tried to talk to mom and dad about going for a bike ride or playing at the park, but they would not return their conversation. The youngest girl, probably 2, was deeply sucked in to a tablet, neck bent way over, not even knowing their was a real life around her. Not only is that sad that this little one is already addicted to the tablet, but it's a horrible thing for her body, her neck. My chiropractor told me he is seeing extremely high amounts of bulging discs in kids, all because of too much screen time. Those discs will affect them for the rest of their life. 

I see this scenario played out all the time. It's sad. It's an addiction, just like drugs, porn, alcohol. People are addicted to their phones and are making their kids the same way. Yes, I have a phone and tablet, and yes, I spend time on them, but I also intentionally put them away, and spend time with REAL people, face to face. 

Are you willing to reclaim your life, to really live life? THIS LIFE ISN'T A DRESS REHEARSAL! This is it. Once a day, a moment is gone, it's gone. Those moments you missed with your loved ones because you were staring at a screen can never be recaptured. At the end of your life, do you think you will look back and be happy how much time you spent staring at Facebook, Pinterest, Pokemon, Instagram, gaming, instead of sharing life and conversations with people, your loved ones, your friends, your family? 

Take time this weekend to disconnect. Fly a kite, go for a bike ride, build a fort, go fishing, watch a sunset, take a nap, have a water fight, laugh, go on a picnic, actually have a real face to face conversation with someone, go camping, shut the devices off and recapture your life! Your life will be much less stressed because you intentionally disconnect. I guarantee, nothing earth shattering will happen on FB that you will miss! However, if you don't look up, shut down, you are missing the beauty in creation around you, you are missing talking and laughing with your friends and family. This life is all there is on this side of eternity, don't waste it!