I know I should probably slow down myself, but I want to share some funny things that I saw this week that I believe will help make your week better. I went to visit some older friends, and I went to the refrigerator to get some iced tea for everybody and then I noticed it, the laundry soap was sitting right next to the orange juice in the refrigerator. Now listen it can happen to any of us I’m sure, we are so busy with life that sometimes we mindlessly put things where they don’t belong. I was telling this story at the gym and everybody at the gym piped up and said that due to exhaustion, life, or the stupor of their weekend, they had put socks, oil cans, shampoo, and other things in the refrigerator.
And they’d have to search high and low the next day to find where they put it. It’s not a big deal looking for an item when you need it unless you have placed it in such a strange place, you’ll most likely not find it for days. So, in our time today, I just want to give a simple reminder that in your hustle and hurry to be successful and famous some of you just need to slow down and rest a while. Granted, that is not an easy thing to do unless you’re forced to rest due to illness or sheer exhaustion. I read an article the other day that said a measure of your personal wealth in today’s world is how much time you can devote to sleeping.
Isn’t that interesting? Can you devote the hours you need to sleep i.e. versus having to work all the time? So, my thought for this week is simple – I want to remind you to care for yourself, so you’ll have the strength, energy, and alertness to carry on for others as you go forth and do big things. I admit I have a strange sense of humor – I just thought that was hysterical because you don’t think about the orange juice container being orange and the soap, I think it was TIDE, and it comes in an orange container… I will say the soap was nice and chilly when I took it out and put it back in the laundry room for them.
Let me take another minute and talk about the importance of slowing down. If you are an athlete, you know that rest days are crucial for muscle repair, preventing injuries, and improving overall performance, allowing your body to recover and rebuild stronger. Those of you listening who are into serious workouts, you know that you create microscopic tears in your muscle tissues. And rest days are essential for these tissues to repair and rebuild, leading to stronger and more resilient muscles.
Rest is not only about physical recovery but also it is important for mental health. Sufficient rest can help reduce stress, improve mood, and enhance overall well-being. I can only assume many listening often push yourself to the brink as you are pursuing success, but be mindful that if you push yourself too hard due to your strong need for achievement, or fear of failure, or a belief that hard work equates to significance, just know your push for success can lead to serious burnout and have negative health outcomes…nothing is worth losing your health over.
I am sure you have heard the statistics that about 90% of full-time employees have access to paid time off but according to the final numbers, almost 50% of workers don’t use all of their PTO during the year. And 68% of employees work while on vacation while another 52% of workers worry about work during vacation. Doesn’t sound like a restful vacation to me. I get it that sometimes you can’t take the time off but for those who can and choose not to – to show you can power through because you’re tough… all I am saying is give it a try. You’ll come back better than ever if you slow down and take care of yourself.
I came across a great article in PsychCentral magazine and its headline was Why you can’t slow down. I’m going to paraphrase this to keep it short and to the point. The first sentence is, that you know exactly what you need to do to slow down, you need to sit on the couch and catch a breather. You need to say no to additional assignments and commitments. You need to go water skiing, go to the beach, go to the lake, go fishing, and just take a few days off. But your brain says you can’t. In fact, you’ll probably ramp up your workload and hustle even harder, pack your schedule even tighter, and when you do stop for a bit (if you actually can) — you probably wonder to yourself why can’t I slow down? And why is rest so hard for me? For starters slowing down is getting harder and harder in our culture, because our society worships busyness. It has become a Medal of Honor.
Rest and relaxation are seen as rewards, which only come after we’ve worked hard enough. For many of us keeping busy is a source of pride, “a kind of I can do it all mentality.”
In another article by a guy named Mike Pietrzak entitled, This is why you can’t slow down some of the highlights of the article are this.
You have a workweek mentality – most of us are conditioned to work between 9 am and 5 pm, Monday through Friday. While that is the norm, there’s overwhelming science that this is not a healthy life rhythm, that we need regular breaks, and that the optimal work week is 35 hours. I know for many this isn’t an easy option; you have to work the hours that you’re given but for those of you who can all I’m asking is that you try.
Another point is that we believe our work equals our worth. The author goes on to say, that his coach likes to say about work and self-worth, “You’ve linked two things that just don’t belong together.” When we tie our self-worth to our productivity, we set ourselves up for constant failure because we will always want more than we have and will always fall short of our goals.I love his third point and that is weird childhood programming. Mike the author of the article says, when he was 10 his family moved overseas for his dad’s job. He says I remember standing at my grandma’s front door the day before we left, and her telling me something like, “You’re the oldest, you’re the man of the house now. You need to take care of your mom.” That’s a hard thing to tell a child, but still, he became hyper-vigilant about anything that needed to be attended to and took responsibility for everyone, all the time. The author says I’m still unlearning this one.
And the last point from the article I want to share is what the author calls, the entrepreneur trap
He says, I’ve noticed that entrepreneurs, more than any other group, struggle with slowing down, because we believe our business stops working when we do. As long as you continue to be a business “operator” someone who wears all the hats then you will continue to be stretched to the limit and feel the need to answer emails during your daughter’s soccer practice. Instead, work to become a business owner by delegating as much as possible to a competent team. Again, this is my paraphrasing of a very good article and all I’m asking is that you consider doing what’s best for you and your family for the long term.
If we are to build a healthy, sane world, we need healthy, sane people who understand that rest is productive. Or better yet, that productivity is not the purpose of existence. We need to remember that we are human beings, not human doings.
Ok, I thought that was a good article and I wanted to share it with you. I think it is important that we slow down when we can and sometimes, we have to make time to do the right thing. I want to remind you that you’re fearfully and wonderfully made, and God has a plan for your life but friends you have to be well enough and have the energy to step into the light and do what you’re called to do.
