A Personal Sabbath

In pursuit of knowledge,

everyday something is acquired.

In pursuit of wisdom, every day something is dropped.

~LAO TZU

This week I have been thinking a lot about the idea of rest and not pushing so hard to get to a destination. To move at the pace of guidance, rather than to "push on" no matter what. The idea of sabbath is not new, but certainly is not practiced in our society. I first learned about the meaning of it when I worked at a church. They felt strongly that the staff needed time to rest, reflect and restore themselves. It was an important part of the ministry there and enhanced all parts of life. It carried with it the importance of self care as we cared for others. Each month, each staff member was given a half day with pay to have a time for a personal sabbath. It was clear that this was not a time to get caught up on house or yard work, or run errands; it was a time to refresh yourself. Not only were we to do it, we had to come back to the staff meeting and report what we did and what we were learning in the process of embracing rest in our lives.

In the beginning this felt odd and foreign to me. I was unaccustomed to having a half day with no agenda or "to do" list. It took several months to really get the hang of it...to learn how to spend time rejuvenating my body, mind and spirit. I had to look at my life and ask myself how I nurtured and took care of myself. Did I rest when I was tired? Did I cram 36 hours into a 24 hour day? Did I take time to nurture my spirit? Needless to say, I had a hard time answering these questions. In the process I realized I had never really learned how to do that. That is the case for most of us, we have not learned how to do that. Like most things, it takes practice to make it a priority. I wish could tell you I am an expert at it but that is not the case! But it is part of my intention every day, to allow myself time to do nothing, to enjoy nature or to be creative.

I would encourage you today to take a look at how you restore yourself. Do you rest when you are tired or push on anyway? How do you care for your spirit? When does your mind shut off? Take time today to find a way to have a personal sabbath whether it is 15 minutes or a whole day? Finding a way to soothe our mind and spirit and rest our body is essential to our own well being. It may be the most important thing we can do for yourself. We would love to hear about your personal sabbath if you care to post a comment or send an email.