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| Centered in Crested Butte, CO |
We're told that time off is a good thing for these purposes. Yet after any extended time away from work, such as vacation or sabbatical, the first days back have a way of blanking out all of the refreshment or restoration gained in body and spirit.
Coming back from vacation is hard work and it can be painfully counterproductive work if not done slowly and deliberately. Take my board meeting yesterday morning, please! After several long days doing many things that I care deeply about I was spent, as if I'd never even gone on vacation. I knew I was emotionally vulnerable going into the meeting. Nevertheless, I acted out in spite of my knowing better than to do so. Thank God for the generous and caring spirit of my colleagues.
What really is needed for our ongoing health and well being is time off each day or said differently, a daily mini-vacation. My daughter Katharine exercises at a gym and does yoga after a long day of teaching. My friend Paul runs in the early evening to help clear his mind of a private law practice (I know because I've been avoiding running him over for years on the way home from the church). I drive five miles through a pleasant countryside every day to get to work and I've noticed over the years walking and biking have become increasingly popular. I'm told all this exercise is beneficial to the attitudes and behaviors of the people I see along the side of the road.
There are so many healthy ways that work toward bringing our selves, our souls and bodies, back into harmony after extended labor under the burden of the noonday sun (or more likely, in front of the laptop screen or inside the board room or nursery room, for that matter).
We really don't need to be acting out because of stress. There's no excuse for such madness, especially when the world in which we live and move desperately needs our consideration and loving-kindness. We are God's people, called to be peacemakers, called to be joyful in the Lord, always and in all ways. Even though this sometimes is easier said than done, it remains our Christian calling and purpose. Happiness is a job we all need to work at, deliberately and intentionally. God, help me.
"O God, in the course of this busy life, give us times of refreshment and peace; and grant that we may so use our leisure to rebuild our bodies and renew our minds, that our spirits may be opened to the goodness of your creation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
The Book of Common Prayer
