“The proud man and the covetous man never have rest, but the meek man and the poor in spirit live in great abundance of rest and peace.” ~ Thomas a’ Kempis
Yesterday we looked at life’s little leeches, things that zap our vitality over time.
To cope, we need emotional energy. Maybe a couple days of unresolved conflict, poor sleep, and internet saturation won’t cause us to collapse, but living like this continually, will .
Do we realize our own stress limits? Have we allowed “down” time to recover, or have we loaded our schedules so full of activity, we have no time for an inner life?
When my life feels overloaded, I have to pray. Lord, show me what’s wrong. Sometimes I’m not even sure - the stuff of life accumulates so fast.
As I thought about a more balanced life, these ideas hit me:
* Simplicity is my friend. Declutter house & heart.
* Find a quiet place to relax and do nothing. No guilt allowed.
* Take time for a media “fast”: TV, internet, radio.
* Learn to be content with what I have.
* Learn to let bothersome things go - don’t ruminate.
* Develop a healthy network of nurturing, supportive friends.
* Don’t deprive myself of good counsel when needed.
* Release those who have hurt me to God.
* Find ways to bless the people who cross my path.
* Remember that laughter is therapeutic.
* Let answering machine catch calls when I need a break.
* Learn to say no.
* Leave all outcomes with God.
* Allow time to pray before commitments.
* Develop a grateful heart & look for beauty.
* Trace the hand of God in my days with thanksgiving.
* Treat people better than they deserve.
* Keep a prayer journal - it can be short & simple.
* Listen to peaceful, uplifting music.
* Get a yearly physical & routine blood work.
* Invest in my health by eating better.
* Find fun ways to move & exercise, alone or with friends.
* Don’t hoard love - give it away.
* Confess anger, jealousy, and envy to God.
* Don’t hold back genuine compliments.
* Confide in a trusted friend.
* Be clay in God’s hands.
* Find someone to hug.
* Let go of expectations.
* Read God’s Word, not out of duty, but to receive from Him.
* Cry on a friend’s shoulder. Healing comes through relationship.
* Ask God for wisdom about hurtful relationships. Are they healthy?
* Mend fences - be willing to reconcile.
* Plan regular personal retreats.
* Be willing to receive help from others.
* Give up trying to control people, life, & events.
* Solitude is good. Constant noise is not.
* Jot down things to remember so I won’t fret later.
* Make time for a leisurely bath.
* Live within my means.
* Leave breathing room for the unexpected.
* Fall in love with my crockpot.
* s-l-o-w down - don’t overschedule.
* Use technology - don’t let it use me.
* Don’t isolate from friends & family when depressed.
* Get plenty sunlight.
* Plan outings and enjoy the anticipation.
* Be willing to say when I’m wrong.
* Busyness is not necessarily virtuous.
* Am I cooperating with God or resisting Him?
* Relational living begins with Christ.
* My most vital source for living is Him.
* I will spend time with eternity in mind.
* I will cast all my cares on Him.
What areas are leeching your reserves lately? What helps? Feel free to share.
“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalm 91:1
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
on September 5, 2008 - 5:53 pm
Last week I took a few days off and I was going to clean, organize and paint my kitchen. I didn’t. Instead my DH took a couple of days off, too, and we spent one day watching old movies and laughing. We napped. Then he baked me a cake and took me out to eat, along with our son and his girlfriend.
The next day we slept in and went shopping for wardrobe replacements, and laughed at the selection, the prices, and my resistance to spending more than $XX for clothes, shoes, etc.
Friday he went to work and I got up with him, made us coffee, read the paper and then went back to bed. I got out around noon to go pick up one of my purchases I had held from the day before (because they were even more on sale if I waited until Friday to buy them!). I made pizza for supper.
Saturday I dusted and mopped, and made 3 different dips for football snacking. Went to a wedding that evening, very lovely. Sunday worship and then grocery store and nap. Monday, vacuumed again, and napped, oh, and laundry. We had such fun doing simple things, telling “Remember when…?” stories and laughing at not much of anything.
This week at work has been crazy busy and required my total concentration and a lot of energy. I’m so thankful I listened to His permission to throw away my to-do list, to relax, to be not do. I needed the reserve for this week. I’m thankful for faithful prayer warriors, and for the blessings and refreshment I find in His Word. I got a little frazzled and frayed on Weds., went on a mini-rant, and then realized on my way home I spent time and energy over things better addressed in prayer. So Thursday I asked for prayer support. He is faithful to provide what we need.
on September 5, 2008 - 7:17 pm
[…] Technorati Search for: confess] […]
on September 5, 2008 - 10:18 pm
Let me first just say I love your site! I just recently came across it and your recent posts about limits, overload and leeches are very timely. I have a very stressful job, I often work long hours as administrator at a large karate school. I recently came off 11 weeks of 12-14 hour days with a summer camp program, trying to stay on top of my regular administrative duties, as well as helping to entertain and look after 25-35 children every day. My husband has been out of work, and prior to that had a full year of serious health problems and was in and out of hospitals and nearly died last November. I definitely had reached complete emotional and physical burnout. The first week after summer camp, there was no break, right into the after school program, I could barely get out of bed, I couldn’t focus, I badly needed a break. My saving grace believe or not, was tropical storm Fay. I know a lot of people suffered major storm damage, flooding, etc., and believe me I truly feel their pain, I have been through these storms before and have had to deal with the aftermath. But this storm was a blessing in disguise.We were forced to close the school for 3 days. My first thoughts were of having time to really clean my house, maybe clean out and reorganize the linen closet, rearrange the front living room/office, etc., etc. But, then something came over me and I said NO. I did absolutely NOTHING (with the exception of making sure my family was fed) for 3 days. I sat around and read a book, actually watched 2 entire movies with my daughter, who also has a very busy life, so that time together was great! I just hung out at the house, didn’t even leave the house for 3 days. It was wonderful!! The 4th day (as it was now the weekend) I decided to do a little laundry and start picking up around the house, but I didn’t do too much. I needed that time and when I went back to work the following week, I felt so much better. This week I had a little wake up call with my health also, so I am committed to making some lifestyle changes, so far concerning my eating habits, tomorrow, I’m dusting off those walking shoes, and time in the morning for prayer/bible study and reading my favorite devotionals. That had fallen by the wayside in the craziness and I was seriously missing that.
on September 7, 2008 - 12:06 pm
Vicki!
A woman and friend after my own heart!!This blessed me immensely.I have been on overload a lot in the last 6 years.I now make sure to put into practice many of the things on this wonderful list!!!The sad thing is when I get strange looks or comments from folks because I choose to have solitude and silence over “the madding crowd.”I have been gently accused of being anti social because I needed to recharge my depleted batteries.I have been under major stress since husband’s stroke in 2002 and had no help on a human level.So now I just do what I need to do to recharge and let these other folks opinions simply roll off of me.Thanks so much for this post.It did my heart good.Love you~Sharon