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Do we think it’s weak to need a break? Do we ignore the need to recharge our batteries? Responsibility for our own lives requires us to recognize the need to restore our energy.
A good way to check our energy level is to observe our breathing and our movement. Many of us breathe in our own exhaust fumes. Is your breathing more a panting where there is never enough time to do all the things you think you must do? Or is your breathing a sighing where you are filled with feelings of regret or grief or yearning or mourning? Or do you whimper with a lack of excitement and always complain or protest your circumstances? Renewal can come from deep breaths that reach to the soul for complete restoration of spirit. We often think that the opposite of work is play. It’s not. It’s rest. It’s so important to breathe deeply in and then deeply out.
Another way to check yourself is to observe your movement. So many people approach life with the thought of seeing how little they can do, rather than how much. The grunt worker goes along the narrow groove of immediate responsibility, giving no more than paid for, taking no interest in anything beyond basic obligation. This person never turns an intelligent and inquiring thought toward what might be a better relationship of the thing he is doing to the larger works of which that thing is a part.
Study the successful people in life. You will find that they never lived on the minimum plan. They are responding to life seeing whatever they are doing as an art and not just a science. They live in movement with the noise, the litter, the clutter of life. They can handle the untidiness of humanity. And along with that they can loiter and linger in their movements to celebrate the ecstasy of everyday living.
I find that I renew myself best by living insanely every day. Here are some things that help me:
1) Learn to live with chaos. Life is constantly changing. We must embrace change and enjoy the chaos.
2) Take a stand. Don’t be a wimp. Believe in something and someone else besides yourself.
3) Do something dramatic. Write a book. Do something you normally wouldn’t. Stretch yourself.
4) Shut up once in a while. This is especially true if you are aggressive. There is such power in listening.
5) Make space for imagination. Let your imagination run wild. When we decide to be less controlling, we begin to believe in possibilities we didn’t allow before.
6) Create images of abundance. It’s the positive way to look at life. I often think of weeds, dandelions, and insects. All three are forever abundant.
7) Read the comics first and look for the best jokes you can find. Every day I take great delight in looking for the lighter side of life to balance the seriousness of everyday living.
Today, be aware of your need to renew your energy. As long as we live, we are in need of being renewed.
Bob is the Mission & Stewardship Officer at Hosparus Health.
P.S. The key to happiness.
BY BOB MUELLER
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