What if you were to go on strike and do nothing for a whole day. I mean absolutely nothing!
I had a day like this today. I’m not sick but I am tired. Like really tired. It has been extremely hot all week, day after day of draining 40 degrees heat. It’s also the end of the year. So I decided to allow myself to just rest. All day.
At some point around 9 am I got dressed because it felt like the proper thing to do. Two hours later I decided to demarcate the day to nothingness, and to make it official I put my PJs back on.
Interestingly my husband and daughter were exactly the same. My daughter slept 6 hours during the day! If a mouse had squeaked I would have heard it. We only got up occasionally to eat!
Sometimes we need to cease productivity and simply rest. We should not wait until we are sick.
Our culture is so obsessed with productivity however that we three even felt a bit of guilt about not getting anything done. We are products of a society that says productivity is morally right. Lying around motionless all day is lazy. Even if you worked all week.
Bur that is crazy. Resting is a thing we need to do. It is imperative.
It’s now evening and I just said to my husband and daughter; ‘this must be what God really meant when he told the Israelites to take a Sabbath every seventh day. To really do nothing and to really rest.’ Not the way I try to rest each Sunday – when I still cook meals or tidy here and there or invite people over.
Today however we had true rest. Deep rest. I know from past experience that we will feel amazing tomorrow and it will be so worth it.
I also know this kind of deep rest wards off all kind of problems. It helps you stay healthy. If all humans did this every week we’d be so healthy and no one would have burnout. The time spent de-compressing would give us sharp minds. Truly relaxing like this would mean we’d be more patient and kind in relationships. This kind of rest would enable us to feel more joy.
I want to encourage you to try it out. Do nothing all day. Be completely and utterly unproductive for one day. Even if you have to wear PJs to remind yourself. Even if the kids have to forage for themselves in the kitchen. Even if you have to cancel plans. Make a conscious decision to have an unproductive day.
Just make the world stop for one day.
It is weird but good.
Very good.
(The photo is of the trees that I see from my bedroom. Look at those flourishing trees. They stand still all day every day, and yet they flourish!)
Into the clearing 