Week 132: Listen to Your Body
When you need to rest, you need to rest…
Each Sunday, my wife and I cook and eat a meal together — intentionally. Every Friday, I’ll be sharing our experience here in this space. I want to see the growth that will come in our marriage because of this. I hope you enjoy our story. You can find last week’s post here.
As I write this, I’m sitting on the couch in our living room on a quiet *Saturday* morning. Obviously I usually try to post these on Friday. I’ve had a pretty good record of that, too. I’d say I post on Friday about 90% of the time. But there are days where that just isn’t possible.
But, to be honest, yesterday wasn’t one of those days.
I had the chance to write this post late Friday night. Sarah was about to go to bed, and I was going to go say good night and then come back out and write this post. But I’d been feeling sick most of the evening. Something just wasn’t right with my stomach. Not sure if it was something I ate or what. I jumped in bed to say good night to Sarah, and as she was falling asleep, I just laid there. I could hear one word almost audibly in my brain.
Rest.
But the post! It needs to be written! I had about an hour and half left in the day. Surely I could finish the post in time.
Rest.
But I’m not even tired! I’ll probably still be up anyways. Wouldn’t that time be better spent writing than just laying here?
Rest.
But…but…but…
Rest.
Finally, I listened. I fell asleep almost instantly. What’s interesting is that I wouldn’t have been able to write this post had I not given my body what it needed. It’s kinda funny, because this is the exact lesson I should have learned a few weeks ago…
Only Halfway There
We had spent the weekend up in the Detroit area for the wedding of one of our closest friends. Sarah was the matron of honor, and she had known the bride since they were kids living next door to one another. I’ve gotten to know her and her husband since meeting Sarah, and they are both some of the best people you’ll ever meet. The wedding was absolutely wonderful, and the reception was the party of the century.
On Sunday, it was time to drive home.
We got up in the morning, said our goodbyes, took the picture that’s the header for this post, and we were on our way. It had been such a full weekend of celebrating with friends and family. Now it was time to go home.
We had about a four-hour drive back to our house. Usually I’d have no problem doing it all in one straight shot. I enjoy driving, even for long periods. One time, on our way back from Georgia, I drove 13 hours to get us home.
Now, don’t get me wrong — I love Michigan. Though I’m a Hoosier through and through, I will say that Michigan has some of the prettiest roadways you’ll find. However, the drive back from Detroit isn’t Michigan’s finest. I had an audiobook to listen to (the new Robin Williams biography by Dave Itzkoff — I highly recommend), so I was good. But after a while, I began to notice a voice loud and clear saying…
…rest.
We had driven about two hours, and we were just about to get on I-69 to take us down into Indiana. I saw a sign for a rest stop, and — thankfully — I listened to that little voice.
We pulled into the parking lot, and I put my seat down and just rested. I didn’t even sleep, really. Just rested. I gave my body a chance to recharge. Later, I went in and used the restroom, got a drink of water, and we were on our way. I think we were at the rest stop for about 30 minutes or so. Sure, we got home that much later. But we got home.
Listen and Rest
Our bodies are pretty good about talking to us. But if you’re anything like me, you’re not always great at listening. Our culture says we need to do more. Be more. More, more, more. Now, I’m all for hustling and doing the best that you can to be the best that you can. We should all have goals and aspirations that push us outside our comfort zone.
But those shouldn’t come at the expense of our health.
There’s a huge difference between being lazy and giving your body the rest it needs. I haven’t always been great at recognizing the difference, and my health has suffered for it at times. But this post is my encouragement to you that there are times when you simply need to rest. Put down the work and recharge. Pull off the road into that rest area even though you’re only halfway home. Rest. Renew. And then come back with fresh eyes the next morning.
I wouldn’t have been able to write this post last night. This post had to come on Saturday morning. Why? Because “Friday night me” was sick and tired. This “Saturday morning me” has the clarity of rest. And it’s all because I listened to my body.
I highly encourage you to listen to yours.
