Avoiding the extremes.

We have talked a lot about balancing our high energy with periods of rest. Recently, I observed that when we are busy for an extended period and then we stop abruptly, and completely, we often cannot rest well and will fall right into depression. Just like a person that has been exposed to constant noise, we are trying to give our bodies and minds some silence and some rest but it just will not come.

We might be on a long awaited vacation where we decided just to catch up on some sleep, watch a little TV and start a garden. The only problem is we find ourselves feeling lethargic and unable to accomplish the simplest task. We feel as if we no longer want to participate in the world. Instead of just getting the rest, we need and enjoying ourselves, we end up battling our negative thoughts.

To prevent us from experiencing a negative low rather than restful bliss, we need to not work for 12 hours a day and then just stop cold turkey. As we begin to near our free time for rest, we need to continue to do little projects as we come off the stressful over-work pattern. This weaning-off period seems to push the depression away and this will allow us to rest peacefully without guilt and negative thought.

Going on vacation is another time when this contrast can have a dramatic effect on us.
Though the change in scenery from vacation time usually has a positive effect on us, the reality is that most travel and vacations are not restful. We may fill our vacations so full of expectations, lineups, worry, and fun that we do not rest at all.

The contrast between the playing and work fueled with exhaustion find us falling into depression as soon as we return from holidays.

Remember, we cannot afford to exhaust ourselves because the cost on our spirit is too high a price to pay.

We often work long hours for months, then just before our vacation, we work even harder preparing to get ready. We play for two weeks with no worries and no responsibilities and then wonder why our minds do not want to go back to work.

We often expect too much from ourselves on our time off. A corporate leader who runs a weekly marathon of decisions and daily problem solving, cannot expect to feel eager to do quiet tasks on the two days off from work. The body and mind is not prepared for the drastic change. The mind and body have raced, not paced, and the contrast from the busy-ness to the nothingness is too vast for the mind to handle. The mind instead becomes numb, confused, and hums like an idling engine, unable to enjoy the quiet that is so desperately yearned for.

Work Balanced Silence and Rest into your Schedule and Prepare for Time Off

• Instead of filling every minute of the day from Monday to Friday and then stopping without anything to do on Saturday and Sunday, try to wean off the activity as you come to the weekend. How many times have you doubled up your workload and tried to rush to complete so you could leave work on time on a Friday afternoon?
  
  
• If you are working from home, remember to schedule breaks from work each day instead of working non-stop until you are exhausted.
  
  
• Scheduled small and enjoyable tasks to help you come off the fast pace gradually. Do not wait until the weekend to find the tasks, prepare them ahead of time and commit to completing them regardless of what your mind is telling you. Do not allow your exhausted self to slump onto the couch too quickly. You will need the small sense of accomplishment from the minor tasks that you have scheduled.
  
  
• It is not an option but a necessity that you, during the week, try to take an hour or a day off from busy activities and just BE. Just be with yourself and breath for as long as you can. Release any expectations placed on you from your job, your relationships or yourself and just BE.
  
  
• Remember to balance the work with the play so that you do not find yourself with too many activities during the week and nothing to do on the weekends. Allow the time to rest and play each day rather than thinking that you can catch up on your lack of sleep on Saturday and Sunday.
  
  
• I believe that we as Wave Riders burn our adrenaline and energy much faster than a person that performs the same task in slow and steady mid-wave fashion. We need to accept our abilities but we also need to remember to compensate for the havoc that our multi-tasking plays on our minds and bodies.
  
  
• Do not wait until the weekend to pick up the supplies for the garden or gather the phone numbers that you will need for your weekend "come-down-projects". Instead, make sure that during the week you have made all of the tedious preparations for your weekend project. When we are tired, our mind will look for any excuse to not do something that might actually be fun to do. Our minds will send the negative thoughts of " I'll have to look up the phone number" or "I will have to drive through the heat and the Saturday traffic to go and get the plants and the soil, when all I really need is a little rest." During the week, gather the phone numbers and write them on the Saturday schedule or pick up some plants one day and some soil the next. When Saturday comes, all you will have to do is relax and dig the holes or make the calls.

Our burst of adrenaline energy is what gives us our multi-tasking abilities that we are so proud of… but remember, that the ability to multi-task, create incredible works and problem solve, comes with some rules….

1. We must balance the resting of the body and the nutrition for our body with the burning of our energies.

2. We must not only do this on the weekend but we must find a few minutes to balance each hour or a few hours to balance each day.

We cannot expect our mind to be able to come to a screaming halt at the end of the week, because it will fight back in protest by slamming us into a useless state of numbness or a deep depression. Depression is not rest and does not replenish the body's energy. Depression eats away at what is left of us. Slowly unwind by using small enjoyable tasks that you have scheduled in advance. Do not wait until you feel like doing them - just do them!

Why wait for your vacation time to get some extended joy and rest? You need added rest especially if you are in a job that you do not like, as the contrast is far too great. Instead, find ways to pace yourself before you suffer the consequences of burnout. Remember that burnout can set you back for years. Burnout is not the way to accomplish great things in the long run. Enjoy the gift of each day by giving yourself a combination of accomplishment and rest, time to think and time to play.

Yours in Faith,
Indigo Irwin Kennedy
Beyond the mind, around the heart, fill the soul.