Taking a Break and Being Real

Hey all,

Being busy is good, and it sucks. I had two weeks off from work for Christmas, about half of that time was spent at gatherings and parties, while the other half was spent road-tripping to the west coast and back with some buddies. Throughout the whole time I realized that with how busy I was, I didn't have a lot of time to just relax. Granted, there were times throughout the whole "break" where I was relaxing, and spending time not doing a whole lot. The thing is, I think that often we try to busy ourselves, that it gets to be a bit ridiculous. We often forget to take care of ourselves, or even to know what that looks like. I have some thoughts on what it takes to take care of yourself. I'd say that I am a relatively stress-free person. Emphasis on relatively. There are things that stress me out at times, but I think that I am pretty effective at distracting myself from the things that stress me out.

Two thoughts: DO THINGS THAT BRING YOU JOY! and DO FUN THINGS, FOR FUN! It's super easy to get bogged down and frustrated with life, and the worries and stresses that get us down. It can be hard to want to do fun things, or take time to do things that we enjoy when we feel we have obligations to fulfill. Perhaps we all need to take more time to just have fun. I used to want to postpone growing up. I thought that grown-ups had all sorts of problems that I didn't want to have. They were always stressed out. I think that it can get to be that way sometimes, but we need to take time for ourselves, to do things that bring us joy, and fill us up with a love for life.

Sometimes it can be hard to think of things that bring us joy, when we feel as though it has been a long time since we felt joyful. I suggest trying to recall the last time you were really, truly joyful. What were you doing? Maybe try doing that again. Perhaps we need to take a page out of a child's book, and learn how to play again. Spend some time just goofing around, and not trying to pretend like we have it all together. It's hard work pretending to be alright all the time. I think a lot of times when I do that, I'm probably trying harder to convince myself then anybody else that I'm alright. As the body of Christ, we should share in each other's joys, and each other sorrows. If we just want to support each other in the times of joy, it would seem that we are missing half of the spectrum. If we take more time to play, we likely won't be as stressed. So play with your friends, do things that will bring joy to each others lives! Praise God for he has made each of us unique and with gifts to help each other out, and build each other up. You are all made in the image of God, and he loves you!!!

I'm a follower of Christ, but I don't know it all, and I don't have it all together. Life is messy, messy is real. I want to be real.

"This is the day the Lord has made.
      We will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24 (NLT)