You Don't Need A "Self Care Day"

Several weeks ago I was lured into a LinkedIn post from someone who was speaking about their self care days. Complete with a picture, they were making the case that given the number of hours they worked and all of the other things they had going on in their lives, that every once in awhile they would crash (also known as burnout).

It was because of this crash that every so often they would take a self care day to recuperate and "catch-up" on all of those things they let slide during their marathon days of work and busy.

Unfortunately, this person is not alone.

I have seen numerous posts on different platforms and spoken to others who follow this same pattern and at different times throughout the year they "reward" themselves with a self-care day.

Do You Really Need It?

I am a big believer of people taking care of themselves. I myself watch what I eat, I exercise regularly and most days average 7-9 hours of sleep. However, it seems that many have instead opted to drive themselves to the point of exhaustion and then tap out when it inevitably catches up with them. This is evidenced by a recent report highlighted in Forbes that indicated that two-thirds of the workforce has experienced burnout.

But what if we could forgo the whole idea of a self care day every so often and take advantage of a self care day every week?

The reality is that we can.

It Started in the Beginning

When you look at the creation account in Genesis it says the following:

"By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God had created and made."

This is the first record that we have of rest in all of Scripture, and it is this example of Godly rest that informed the fourth of the Ten Commandments . . . "Remember that sabbath and keep it holy."

I am no theologian and there are those far smarter than I that can unpack Sabbath and how that applies to us today who are not under the law that God delivered in the Torah. However, in my rather simple approach I read that God rested on the 7th day . . . and this was before he gave His law to Israel.

Follow The Leader

God, the Creator of our universe rested and also made sure there was a record of it in His word. However, He did more than rest, He sanctified the day (set it apart) that He rested. Knowing this, how then should we approach rest?

A number of years ago I was talking with several other business owners and executives about the pace of business and the time we were putting into our jobs. I did not realize it at that time, but what had started as an earnest conversation quickly evolved into a brag session.

Each of us began speaking about our 10-12 hour days, our relentless travel schedules, lack of sleep and all of the other ways we were burning the candle at both ends.

I can only imagine how ridiculous we sounded to anyone who might have overheard our conversation. A bunch of stuffed shirts who used a lack of rest as a way to boost our egos.

Just absurd and not at all the pattern that our God has given us.

We Are Told To Remember

I find it interesting that of all of the Ten Commandments, the only one that starts with the word "remember" is the one about Sabbath.

I believe this is because God knew how quickly we can get distracted, how we can make work our idol and how easily we can get consumed with busy. And, whether it is a conscious decision or just absent mindedness, when we allow ourselves to get into these destructive cycles, we neglect our need for rest.

As with everything that God has laid out, when we follow His ways, we will find our lives our better; this includes our call to rest.

In His kindness, God gave us a pattern to find rest every week! If we remember to do so is completely up to us.

On the journey with you,

Carlos