Breathe, Stretch, Shake, Let It Go!

26 Apr Breathe, Stretch, Shake, Let It Go!

We live in a society where badges of honor are consistently given out for grinding, hustling, securing the bag, being a #bosschick or saying things like “sleep is for the dead!” or “ If Beyoncé’ dances for 15 hours a day, I can (insert insane comparison here).”

Well, sis, rest is part of the process.

In Genesis 2:2, the Scripture states that “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.”

Have you ever wondered why the maker of the universe would need to rest? Well, guess what? He didn’t. He’s God! What he was doing, was setting an example of how we should live. God was showing us that resting is an essential part of being productive. To illustrate this example, let’s look at the rest cycle of a professional athlete.

Professional athletes use rest cycles in four (4) different ways.

1. Short-rest (Time-outs): These are short periodic breaks that we need to take during our daily activities. During this type of rest, we are still in the posture of work, but we intentionally step way, take a breath, contemplate strategy and get back into the game. Small strategic breaks are a game changer when you are having problems focusing or cannot seem to find your creative flow.
2. Half-time: How many times during the week do you eat lunch at your desk or skip lunch altogether? Stop that mess! We need at least a 30-minute window when we can completely walk away from the field of play, replenish ourselves with good nutrition, reflect on the production of the day, make mental adjustments and get back into the game.
3. Rest between games: How many of you take work home either in your briefcase or in your head? We need the time that we are off, to reconnect with ourselves, our families or just to decompress. Athletes use the days between games to recover from the damage that playing did to their bodies. Likewise, we should use the time between 5- 10 to our own advantage.
4. Rest between seasons: Who is guilty of running from one season of life to the next? Not taking time to celebrate the victory, recover from the injury or rebuild from a loss. I am! I exhibited this behavior just the other week.

Don’t you think it would be wonderful if you could take some time to totally disconnect with your job at least once a quarter to replenish all that you have given away? Not only will you become better at keeping your balance, but your family, supervisor’s attitude and body will all be better for it.

Because we’re women, there is always something to do, someone to do it for and no time to rest or reset. Yet, God demonstrated that rest is appropriate and right. If God himself rested from his work, we should not be surprised that we need to rest, for we are made in his image (Genesis 1:27).

So, if you’re anything like me (and I know at least one of you is), you’re currently thinking of all the reasons you don’t have time to rest or how much rest would cost you. God knows what is ahead of us…and because of that, He is the One who established the pattern of rest for us. So, let’s follow the example of the Father, by strategically making rest a part of OUR process.