Five Benefits of the Value of Rest
Do you ever feel like you just need some time off to rest?
We were designed to have rest in order to reach our full potential. We rest about 1/3 of every day via sleep.
God called for us to work 6 days and rest on the seventh day. So, we are to rest one day/week.
For many of us who are driven, we can see rest as a waste of time.
However, rest was intended to benefit us in ways we may not have recognized.
In the past, I worked seven days/week. I constantly worked whether it was actual work or reading business journals and books while on vacation. I rarely turned my mind off from work.
This lifestyle came to a halt about 20 years ago when my wife, Joy, called this vicious cycle to my attention and let me know that I was robbing my family of their time.
Whoa…that was a moment I will not forget!
To help us shift from being on all the time to being off at least one day/week, here are some benefits we receive from rest:
Clearer Vision
When we come back from a day of rest or from a vacation free from email, voicemail, or anything associated with work, we are so much clearer about our life, our goals and our priorities.
When we are constantly have our heads down working our actions lists, we do not stop and rest long enough to see the forest for the trees. Rest generates greater clarity.
Enhanced Relationships
Our family and other relationships improve when we take the time to invest in them. When all we do is work seven days a week we miss the opportunity to develop deep meaningful relationships.
Relationships take time and without at least one day/week off from work, we cannot invest in the relationships that really make life worthwhile.
Increased Creativity
When we take time off from work, we renew our minds and this readies us for greater creativity. I find that there are more new ideas generated when I return from a week of vacation free from any form of work.
When we have increased creativity, we enjoy our work more and this impacts the lives of those who work for and with us as well as our customers.
Allow Others to Rest
When we stop emailing and our people know they do not need to work 24/7/365, they will enjoy their work more and be more motivated to serve each other and their customers. They will feel a sense of renewal when allowed to rest.
Decreased Reliance on Self
When we work seven days/week we are, in essence, saying our success is completely reliant on ourselves. From a spiritual perspective, God created a day of rest so that we realize that we should not rely on ourselves alone but rely on Him to provide for us.
When the Israelites fled Egypt and were wandering in the desert, God commanded them to only gather enough manna for each day so that they would rely on Him to provide.
Rest has so many benefits for us. With today’s level of technology we can easily be “always on” but we need to train ourselves and those around us to not expect us to respond 24/7/365 as it relates to work.
What benefits have you received from taking time to rest?
I was in the habit for years of working from the time I got up in the morning until it was time for dinner – around 5 in the evening – without any breaks. As of late, I’ve found that I’m so much more productive and that I come up with more solutions to problems if I take a lunch. Just a quick break to eat and read a poem, or write a few creative writing paragraphs really helps jump start my afternoon. Thanks, Bill!