Rest: There's a Rhythm to It
Image by Jackson David from Pixabay
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The doctor looked over her glasses at me and said, “We need to test for adrenal fatigue.”
I already knew the term. In case you don’t, it means that chronic stress has worn down my immune system.
Since then, to make matters worse, I’ve struggled with a variety of other ailments, including long COVID.
Her eventual diagnosis confirmed adrenal fatigue this past summer. That is when I determined to take seriously the problem of chronic stress in my life.
I ordered books on rest, began reading scriptures on rest and started writing in my journal about my quest to conquer fatigue and the stress that seems to produce it.
Perhaps you suffer from overwork, chronic stress, or debilitating fatigue. (Wait, did I just describe the experience of many pastors?) If so, you may be interested in my top five learnings, gleanings, realizations, and reflections thus far:
Our culture re-enforces overwork. Status is conferred to those who work the most hours and do the most activities, as we often equate this with success. The same applies to church culture as well - until some sort of fall or abandonment of ministry occurs. Then we condemn the outcome. Some of us don’t fall or give up. But we may eventually get sick and be forced to rest.
God was not joking when he instituted the Sabbath. I’ve generally given the idea of taking a Sabbath a passing nod. Yet God made it one of His Top Ten commandments. He made provision for its fulfillment by providing enough manna on the 6th day to last over the Sabbath day. Jesus stated that “man was not made for the Sabbath but the Sabbath for man”.
Rest is active. According to Alex Pang in Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less, rest does not necessarily mean just doing nothing. It means to engage in downtime, whether napping, walking, engaging in a hobby, or playtime. Do what you want, as long as it is not work.
Surprisingly, much of what I’ve read so far shows we maximize creative potential and productivity when we establish rhythms of work and active rest. Pang notes that many prolific writers of the past worked 4 hours daily in the morning hours. They took 2 or 3 hours off for walking, horseback riding, or napping, then returned to their office for a couple of hours for more routine tasks that didn’t require much creativity.
The main idea: we can purposely use rest to help us recover and stay healthy, but also increase productivity in terms of our most important contributions. You cannot work all the time and operate at your peak potential.
Yes, individuals have their own rhythm of when they are most effective. While most people may be most creative and effective early in the day, others seem to be most creative later in the day.
I realize that I am an introvert. Perhaps those of us who are extroverts may need more social stimulation as part of the rest.
I realize that resisting pressures to deviate from the routines that are best for you can be difficult. Setting boundaries and communicating when you are unavailable may not be what some people want to hear.
Yet what am I doing with these insights? I’m working on finding ways to stress less (which is a separate, yet related topic). I am working to balance my work and rest in a real lifestyle change.
I hope that you also can find and then fine-tune your own rhythms of work and rest.
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