Monday afternoon after a long day at work and after visiting my mom, I came home, put on my pajamas and got in bed at 5 p.m. I stayed there for three hours eating Golden Flake Sweet Heat potato chips and watching television. My husband thought I was dying. Seriously.
I’m the woman who comes home from work only to launch into at least three additional hours of work and one hour of exercise.
And the Monday to-do list in my Day Designer* was full. But I just didn’t care. My body told me to get in bed and so I listened.
And I’m glad I did.
The world didn’t stop turning and my life didn’t implode because I took the night off. And when I woke up Tuesday morning I was bursting with energy and checked off everything on Monday evening’s to-do list before I went to work.
Sometimes we need to do this with writing, blogging, and even our efforts to build our personal brands. Sometimes we just need to rest. Sometimes we need to take a break from our blogs. Sometimes we need to put away the book we’re working on and write for writing’s sake. Sometimes we need to log off social media.
I’ve been praying for direction about what God wants me to do next with my writing, my blog and my business. I haven’t gotten the burning bush kind of a sign that I want. But there’s one word that keeps coming up in all the devotionals I’ve been reading: REST.
So that’s what I’ve been doing, sort of. I haven’t been blogging as much as I normally do or as active on social media as I normally am. But I’ve been reading like a student cramming for the PRAXIS or the GRE and writing as if my life depends on it because sometimes it feels as if it does. I’ve been writing in 5 different journals, the Google Docs of two different email accounts and the notes app of my phone. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with any of these words. They aren’t blog posts. They aren’t essays for my column or my book. And I have no idea if I will ever share them.
But that’s OK. Sometimes you just need to write simply because you can’t help yourself.
Monday’s evening of rest and Tuesday’s morning of productivity made me confident that when I rise from this period of rest from blogging and business, I will be ready to shake the world.
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Hey J! It’s been a while, I won’t be a stranger though. It looks like I’ve checked back just in time. I’m so glad that you listened and got some rest. It does more than refresh us physically. When we give ourselves the chance to rest, tune in and recharge, that’s when the magic happens. Keep writing girl, whatever is pouring from your spirit right now is gonna be used for something EPIC!
Thank you so much for the encouragement!
I’ve been on this same kick, Javacia. As a natural night owl, my creative juices easily flow into 1:00 AM; then, I’m right back up early in the morning to teach my 8:00 AM class. It’s a cycle that has gotten me through most of my life. Lately, my body’s been crashing before midnight. I mean, certified meltdown where I slowly walk from the couch to my bedroom and collapse in the bed. That REST voice has been loud and clear too. I usually switched between academic and entrepreneurial gears too, but it has just been obvious that I need more breaks for this season though I sprinkle them throughout the year. I decided to write about it because these recent “brakes” have taken me off guard. Thanks for the reminder and happy resting. There is much ahead to conquer!
I’m looking forward to reading what you write about this discovery.