The pause. It’s that deep breath after reading an aggravating email from an infuriating client or an uncontrollable boss before firing off a response that will either lose the big deal or get you fired. It’s that prayer, meditation, or moment of silence needed to make it through a Wednesday afternoon knowing that the week still holds two more days. It’s that sip of wine or that cold one on the balcony Friday evening with friends after a week from hell – the withdrawal from the daily grind into being you and free for two days. It’s whatever you need to survive yet another week in a job that you don’t entirely love. I call it the pause, others call in mindfulness. Whatever you call it, it’s rest, and it’s essential for our health and our soul.
Rest is so important that it’s mentioned continually throughout the Bible – 365 times according to some Biblical scholars. Thats a mention for each day. God Himself even listed it as one of the big ten rules right alongside murder and adultery. We must keep one day without work to relax just like we shouldn’t kill our neighbor or boink his wife no matter how hot she is. In today’s society of email , instant mesengers, texts, cell phones, apps, and whatever other kind of connectivity you have, I don’t think the small pause once a day or once a week is enough. We need a chance to withdraw for extended periods – the all coveted yet so deprived PTO. Oh, and spending it all with family over holidays definitely doesn’t count. That’s often the opposite of a pause and warrants more time off.
For me, the pause is at the beach. It’s where my soul is happiest – where it comes out to dance in the tide as it washes in and out. Whether it’s taking that morning walk with a good cup of coffee and listening to the waves crash in and out and truly sensing God’s beauty or it’s just sitting on a beach towel with a cold beer and getting lost in the surf and the sand, my soul is freed. I went a long period without a true rest. Sure, you have read about trips to Thailand, Bavaria, the Smoky Mountains, and Colombia, but those weren’t entirely restful. They were filled planning and getting to the next place. I never felt relaxed or redeemed. The closest I came was last year when we spent Labor Day in Miami and withdrew so much that we didn’t even rent a car – too stressful. Below are some pictures from a morning walk I took with a cup of coffee and my camera. I was at ease.
Currently, I am sitting in a hotel room in Costa Rica indulging in what has thus far been a week of rest at Playa Hermosa. A town that is so small that only one road is paved. It’s paradise to me and I have been at rest. Well, except for that minor skirmish with a tour operator who totally ripped us off and sent us on an all day hike instead of river tubing and zip lining as advertised. I refused to pay and he threatened to leave us on the volcano. I ended up winning in the long run but did lose a day of vacation. However, we did take the hike. It wasn’t beach but it was a good connection with nature. Hopefully the remainder of the week will be restful and a good pause before I am tossed back into the chaos of my job.
Where do y find your pause?