Many people see a counselor for anxiety, stress, and depression counseling. It’s inevitable to experience any of these, especially when we’ve experienced something traumatic in our relationships or marriage. One thing we can do is slow down.
We live in a society that is constantly about moving. Literally, a “Go!Go!Go!” society that needed the job done yesterday. We have to work, make sure dinner’s ready or eat out (but just today because we plan on eating healthier tomorrow), pick up the kids art supplies for school (Did they say red glue, blue ribbon or red ribbon, blue glue?), pick up the bosses suit (By the way, where did I put the receipt for that?), make it in time for church because one of the ushers got sick, exercise (Was it cardio today?), and the list goes on!
The worst part is that this so-called list will never shrink. There will always be one more thing you had to add or forgot to do. No wonder everyone is always stressed out and irritated! Who in their right minds would dare to slow down?Hopefully, you.
To make this point, I will use a Bible verse that many are familiar with:
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
Genesis 2:2-3
God makes the rest day “Holy”. We have funny ideas about that word, but truly, all it means is to set apart. So God literally set the rest day apart from the other days. The “rest days” function is special and is completely different from the other six days.
You must ask the question, “Why would God need rest?” The answer is obvious, He doesn’t. His objective is to layout a pattern for us to follow, in this case, to rest.
So what is “rest”?
Resting is to completely stop working. This in itself feels incredibly therapeutic as you finally allow yourself to relax, feel refreshed, recover, and most importantly enjoy! It helps us to reflect, gather our thoughts, and gets us out of life’s loop for a little while. We give everything and everyone a rest in our lives, but we rarely allow the proper rest for ourselves.
Resting is life’s mini reset button. Giving ourselves that little bit of time to have fun and enjoy some less responsibility shouldn’t be an option, it should be a requirement. That little pause that lasts a day helps you to start the week again much more alert and energetic. (If you’re not feeling alert or energetic, please talk to and individual counselor about stress and anxiety counseling.)
When we look at the pattern in the creation sequence, we see God completing His work in the six days, therefore having a seventh to rest on. This also tells us that enough of the work must have been completed to be able to afford a rest day. How important rest must be to even list it this close to the opening pages of the Bible.
Similar to rest is the art of slowing down. Can you think of times when you rushed through things? It’s not going to be the newest gadget or the next As Seen on TV novelty item (yes, I’m talking about your Shamwow) that’s going to help you manage things better so you can finally slow down. I will explain what you can do to start slowing down and different things you can do to slow down and yes, even get some rest.
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