Nothing Days; Learning the Art of Rest
Life is crazy busy. We live in a constantly moving world. Success is measured in how much we can get done, how much we can achieve, how many awards we can win, getting a raise at work, or even how well our kids are doing and how they turn out. That same world that is also full of burn out, leaving us overwhelmed and left with little for ourselves. We are seen as selfish or weak if we set aside time for ourselves.
These last several weeks I have chosen to give myself that time, not worrying about how others will perceive me. It has been the most incredible thing I have ever done for myself! Honestly, if more of us begin to take care of ourselves, I really think the world would be a better place. We would most likely be a lot more gracious towards others and towards ourselves, which would lead to a world full of love.
Where
The most amazing part of a nothing day for me is getting out of town. Finding a place that doesn’t have people you know that you might run into. Without the thought running into people you know, you don’t need to pause your day to have a conversation that you may not be in the mood to have. Not needing to have small talk is also extremely restful. There’s no need to shoot the breeze about the weather or how your day is going.
You may be a people person and love conversations with anyone and everyone, but it’s a really good practice to get away from that for a day and be alone in your thoughts. As an extrovert who loves people and conversations, I didn’t realize how important this type of alone time was until I started having it. It truly is a time to rest your heart and soul.
When
Do what you can and when you can. It’s not always the easiest or possible to get away, especially if you are a parent and have a lot of responsibilities. If you have a significant other, take the opportunity to do this for each other. If you have a good friend, you could also take turns doing this for one another. Maybe you have a parent that lives nearby and can take advantage of that grandparent love. They should always be more than willing to spend time with their grandchildren.
Maybe you don’t have kids, but have loads of other responsibilities. Choose to say no to some of those things for a day once a week. Choose to say yes to yourself and your own mental health.
Once a week is ideal, but if you are only able to once a month, that’s still better than nothing. These days are what I live for; it’s my favorite part of the week! I don’t schedule any clients, don’t make plans, use a day that my kids are all in school, and then get the heck out of town for some me time.
What
This is where you can do whatever it is that fills you up and makes your heart full of joy. For me, my nothing day always includes coffee! As a self proclaimed coffee addict, I can’t have a relaxing day without it. If you’re like me, you can google all the coffee shops in the area you wanna go to and see what their menu is like ahead of time. Check out the atmosphere as well, and see if that’s the kind of vibe that will produce relaxation.
Do what makes you happy though. Write down a list if you want of things that you’d want to do over time on your nothing days. Do you want to go shopping, walk around a plant store or downtown somewhere? Maybe you prefer to see a movie or get lunch on your own. Find a place to read a good book, write a blog (which I am currently doing) or poetry. You can go to a lake or river or forest and put up a chair or hammock and take a nap. Put on your favorite music or podcast that is restful. For me, worship music is what calms me. Whatever it is that you choose to do, this day is for letting your soul and body rest.
Why
Like I said earlier, life is busy. We are constantly caring for others around us, so taking time to rest makes the other days of the week easier. Loving others can be difficult if your soul is on empty, but it’s a lot easier when your heart is full. Taking care of ourselves is actually one of the most loving things we can possibly do.
I once heard this metaphor from a close friend. Love is like a tower of champagne glasses. We are the top glass and the ones below us are the people in our lives. If we have no champagne in our glass, nobody else will have any in theirs. It’s once ours starts to fill up that it eventually overflows into all of the others.
Take a good long day every week to truly rest and recharge, because no matter where you are at in life, you deserve it!
“And he said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made FOR man, not man for the Sabbath.’”
-Mark 2:27
