Needed rest

Last Sunday I did not post, largely because I was running late and I wasn't sure what to write about and sometimes my thoughts just won't order themselves.

Tiredness has become somewhat of a chronic issue for me, but it is not just me. I hear so much talk about how we really need three day weekends: one day to wind down (maybe vegetate), and then you can get into the state where you can run your errands on the second day. Then the third day can be for Sabbath activities or social things, depending on the point of view of the person talking.

I know sometimes I just can't read more or write or do anything productive. I get irritated with myself for that, or at least sure that there must be something else besides computer games or television that would suit the need.

Of course I am getting older, but because it is not just me, I don't think it is just that.

I think this is a more stressful world. With rising income inequality, just getting by is harder for a lot of people. That has a tiring impact.

I don't have any great answers for anyone, but I do have some thoughts.

The first one is that dominator culture is really quick to worry about laziness. That is not the problem it appears to be.

They are not even honest in their assessments. I saw a tweet yesterday. It was old, but here is a screenshot:

https://twitter.com/lachancenaomi27/status/1671719132989931528/photo/1

"Sleep for 8 hours. Work for 8 hours. That's only 14 hours our of 24. You still have 10 hours to cook amazing meals, workout, learn a language and walk on the beach. Time is not the issue.

Of course we know that 8 + 8 is 16, leaving only 8, but assuming that is an honest mistake, what about the rest of it? For my job, there is also a lunch break taken out. Yes, I have that time, but it is time where I need to be watching the clock, because I need to be back. 

There is time preparing to work. Currently I telecommute. Back when I had a real commute, I would read on the train. For quite a while I would get off at Goose Hollow and walk to my job near Keller Auditorium, so I did things with those time, but no one has eight hours for play. 

Learning a language can be pretty convenient now, but cooking amazing meals requires knowledge and ingredients and equipment.

You can fit things in; sometimes I am really impressed with my reading, but then I will have a few days in a row where I just can't focus. 

Time is not the only issue, but it is an issue, and for most of us money gets added to the time.

I mention all of that to ask that you not be too hard on yourself, or on others. If not as absolutely necessary as the grace of God, the grace we have for each other is still precious.

Speaking of reading, I did read a book about it, Sacred Rest: Recover Your Life, Renew Your Energy, Restore Your Sanity by Saundra Dalton-Smith.

Dalton-Smith says that we need physical rest (which can be passive or active), mental rest, sensory rest, creative rest, social rest, emotional rest, and spiritual rest. (You can find articles and a TED talk that go over it.)

I don't know that I completely agree with how she has it worked out, and that some of the ideas won't fit with our concept of "rest" can make accepting it harder, but there are definitely times when we will have a tiredness that sleep can't cure. (At least not by itself.)

The other problem is that it is too easy for this to just give us another list of things that we don't have time to do.

These are things to think about, and reasons to be gentle with yourself, and maybe some ideas of things that can help.

Sometimes, deciding that certain things aren't important can be helpful, but that can be hard to do. 

Eternal perspective may not be enough for that. Cleaning the house might be something that you can let slide sometimes without any spiritual consequences, but you sure feel it in the short term, and cleaning takes time.

This is the one thing that I do believe can help, and it is the one I always say: we can get the guidance we need.

I had been feeling for some time that what my blood sugar really needed was for me to get to bed earlier. Switching from 12:30 to 11:30 really helped.

Now if I could start getting to bed at 10:30, I think I would really have something. 

It would cut into other things.

I did not say it was going to be easy.