I hate it when I have to take the battery out of my Blackberry, or unplug the computer from the wall. But sometimes, it’s just necessary. Too much stuff has accumulated. The operating system is overloaded. Everything is locked up.
It happens in our lives as well. Weighed down in projects and problems. Overwhelmed by demands and expectations. Undone by the “to-do” list. We need to stop. Re-boot, re-charge. In order to re-launch.
Those of you who have been following the training I’m doing for the ultra marathon know how much I rail against the rest days, neurotically obsessing that they are a wasteful devolution into lassitude. But intellectually, I know that the rest days are the critical part of the training, a time when the muscles rest, repair and get stronger.
We need those rest days in all the other places in our lives as well: in our work and in our creative endeavors.
Many can perhaps identify with my affliction: when my productivity begins to slip, when I feel as if I am not making the progress I want to make, my knee-jerk reaction is to buckle down, work harder, work longer.
But in reality, what I really need to do is to stop.
The edge, the paradox is this: that in the stopping, in the rest, we renew, we get stronger. We become more creative, more productive, more alive.
I’ve spent that last three days as a guest, once again, of the Benedictine monks in the Green Mountains of Vermont. Entirely off the grid.
Even though I know how essential it is for me to take time away, I needed to drag myself there kicking and screaming. Too much on my plate right now to stop: a graduation party to plan this week, our son’s wedding next week, the manuscript deadlines, the product launch, the clients who need me.
But by stepping out, I am able to step back in – with new energy, with fresh perspective, with renewed purpose. While I was away, nobody died, no disasters unfolded, few even noticed I was gone. But for me, it made a world of difference.
Summer is a wonderful time to re-create. Many of us look forward to vacations. The problem, of course, is that most of the vacations we plan are so full of input and activity, that we return to work and collapse at our desks in order to rest.
This summer, think about taking a day – at least a day – just for you. No phone, no Internet, no television. Just you. Just quiet. Just rest.
The great philosopher Paul Tillich talks about his Source of life as “the ground of all being.” Regardless of what your source of renewal is, take the time this summer to seek it out. Find your ground.
To re-boot, re-charge, re-launch.
It’s really hard to do. Will you give it a try?
You needed that break…I know it’s been a few weeks, but I’m glad to see you “do nothing” for a change…