The average human spends around ⅓ of their life at work, that’s 90,000 hours, which is a lot. Given the nature of your job, most people need to stay anchored in their vocation to build their career, or family, etc, so it’s really important to be passionate about what you do. More often than not, any job whether it’s our dream job or something to pay the bills can be dreadfully monotonous and suck our souls dry (figuratively speaking). We don’t all have the luxury of taking huge chunks of time off from work, but in order to refresh your soul, time to self-care becomes your lifeline.
It’s easy to get lost in roles, responsibilities, and the pressures of life, so first things first - know yourself. Know the things that bring you life. There’s a proverb that says;
“Know thyself, examine yourself and know who you are, so you don’t get lost.”
If you know what brings you life, then you must draw upon those things as essentials to recharge - R&R (the time that you spend when you’re not working, “Rest & Recreation”).
Anchored In The Truth
Staying anchored in the truth, so ask yourself, are you living a life that is true to who you are and reflects your core values and passions? When we’re living lives that aren’t true to who we’re created to be of course we’re going to get tired and worn down. Have you ever tried to take a car off-road that isn’t a 4WD? I have, and I got bogged down big time. Luckily my dad taught me how to change a tire before I had my full license- I think he knew how adventurous I was and wanted to secure all the bases before letting me go loose onto the open road... or off-road dirt tracks. What I’m saying is that we actually need to know what our calling is and follow that, otherwise we will break down or become dull in this somewhat dark world.
I want you to picture yourself holding a cup that contains energy for all aspects of your life in it, and each time you pour out into that space imagine the line going down and being adjusted accordingly. This line is to be disbursed into work, relationships, or solving the big problems in your life; know that you should only be spending a select number of hours for each, otherwise the balance will be out of whack and other areas will struggle to survive, as will you. I’ve seen many loved ones work themselves to the bone and as a result, their relationships suffer and break down. You also cannot be attentive, fully present or honour the relationships in your life if you’re all out of juice either.
Rest & Recreation
Go to the wellspring that is your R&R space, dwell there and recalibrate. For me, it is being in solitude amongst nature because that’s a big part of how I was raised. My mother would take my siblings and I to the beach and into the bush to teach us about how everything is so intricately created for us to enjoy and look after. So I’ll be basking in the ocean, surfing, swimming, going on bushwalks or trail runs. It’s in those places when I can release all the tension, stress, and all my big questions as I reconnect with God. In that place, the worries seem to dissipate, and life becomes beautiful again in deep, grateful breaths of knowing that I can trust in a higher power rather than my own.
Lani XO
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