I had a very good weekend visiting my parents and my brothers and their families and then driving home from Indianapolis on Sunday. Sunday even gave me a magical experience where I happened to stop on the side of the road for a live meditation class where there were thousands of sand hill cranes landing. I drove the rest of the way home (5 hours) and washed the salt off my truck and went grocery shopping on the way home and then unloaded and unpacked. Normally Sundays are my Sabbath, my rest day. I justified to myself that this was my Sabbath. I was just driving home and I had some silence, did some meditation, and so forth. But it wasn’t. Even without a job, I still have a long to-do list and I have a very hard time giving myself permission to just chill and rest. So I counted Sunday as my rest day, and had a very busy Monday, not feeling very good, but still didn’t give myself permission to rest. Tuesday I tested positive for COVID. It’s funny, maybe even a little sad, only with COVID, I gave myself permission to rest. I watched movies (Tik, Tik Boom and My Octopus Teacher. Both very good.) and binged on Cobra Kai most of the day on Tuesday and Wednesday. But I would have felt guilty if I wasn’t sick and yet the rest was exactly what I needed! I isolated on the couch in the basement. I slept when I was tired, ate healthy food, talked on the phone and watched TV. That was it! I didn’t feel guilty, but only because “I was sick.” There really is something about having a rest day once a week where we just rest and relax, without feeling guilty. Is going to church even Sabbath rest? It’s a bunch of production to get the kids up, everyone dressed nice and out the door on time, drive, etc. etc. We need to take a Sabbath, and take it for rest and not busyness. It is just as true in our adventure and professional lives as well. We need time away from the problems of work in order to solve them better when we come back. The most important day in my Ironman training week is the REST day! I’m thankful that I gave myself permission to rest and I look forward to the time when I don’t need to be sick to give myself that permission. Who knows, if I give myself permission to rest regularly even if not sick, I might not get sick.
Do you take a rest day? If so how often? Do you rest when you are tired or push through?
I wish you some great rest this weekend and that you can enjoy it completely.
Art
