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May 4, 2022 - January 19, 2023
Research shows that introverts are more likely to be affected by others’ positive emotions whereas extroverts tend to be more affected by others’ negative
Take an inventory of the people in your life who drain you and those who refresh you. Then take the initiative to end or limit toxic relationships and intentionally surround yourself with those who have a positive effect on your life.
Comparisons limit individuality and destroy the ability to be authentic. Trying to fit in is emotionally taxing.
Emotional exposure is risky, but it’s necessary to live fully. Risk being real; risk being vulnerable.
We are created to thrive in connection with others. Who are those people you most feel like yourself around?
My spiritual journey was never about finding God. My journey has always been about finding home—a place of rest.
Just as a structural bridge is needed to traverse natural ravines, metaphorical bridges are needed to traverse spiritual ravines.
When deep pain enters your life, it can cut into your emotions, into your faith, and into your ability to trust God, creating a deep spiritual valley, a valley so expansive and so consuming it can become a refuge. It can become a place you can retreat for fear of being hurt again. I call this place the Valley of the Wounded,
We all need sanctuary, a secure place where protection reigns and comfort is received.
Sanctuary is not simply a place; it’s a state of being. There we find a sense of security and peace that flows from our connection to God.
“One should not set about treating the body without the soul.
You are made up of a body, a mind, and a spirit. Three unique parts make the whole. Whole is what your body thrives to become.
It would stand to reason, however, if you can be whole, then you can also be the opposite of whole. You can be fragmented or broken.
Spiritual rest is where the broken places mend.
Your faith and relationship with God affect your ability to feel well rested.
What if spirituality is not about learning about religion, but rather about experiencing a relationship?
There can be no healing without pain.
Sir William Bragg was a British scientist and winner of the Nobel Prize. His opposition analogy theory offers a great visual for this. It states: “Sometimes people ask if religion and science are not opposed to one another. They are—in the sense that the thumb and finger of my hand are opposed to one another. It is an opposition by means of which anything can be grasped.”3
Studies have demonstrated that praying and meditating affect the brain in the same way as having a conversation with a person in front of you.
Separate studies conducted at Duke, Dartmouth, and Yale Universities show that people who pray tend to get sick and become depressed less often than those who do not.
His first request is simply to love Him. Love is not religious; love is relational.
Physical pain increases when you are under emotional stress and spiritual distress.
Social rest is when we find comfort in our relationships and social interactions. It is the ability to find solace in another.
Social rest reconnects us to uplifting, rewarding relationship exchanges.
Social rest is about making space for those relationships that revive you.
We begin spending more time minding others’ business when we have plenty of business of our own to mind, not the least of which is the face-to-face relationships we ignore as we stare into our computer screens.
The social overload is damaging. We have too many relationships coming at us through our screens and phones.
Studies show that people with strong relationships live longer, cope with stress better, and are overall healthier and happier.
Studies show an improved immune system, better cardiovascular health, and less dementia in those who regularly enjoy the companionship of close confidantes.
Social rest will increase your sense of belonging and purpose.
If most of your time with your closest relationships involves you talking, consider shutting up and listening.
“So what makes you think your problems are so big and insurmountable that even God can’t touch them? Believe me, no one’s problems are that special.”
Our excessive exposure to nonstop sensory information has left many of us exhausted.
When you overload the senses, you overload the mind, and your body and emotions will respond adversely.
When your brain is overcome with too much sensory input, it can become incapable of effectively processing the information. This overload of sensations stresses the body and the mind.
We all need a break, a time to rediscover life in small tangible ways and to rediscover ourselves apart from the people we serve, the roles we play, the titles we carry, and the goals yet fulfilled. Similarly, our senses need a break.
When our senses continue receiving incoming information without a break, the nervous system becomes too congested to process the information appropriately. The result is a decline in happiness, stifled creativity, mental restlessness, and blunted performance.
The most stressed-out people in my practice are those most responsive to their technology. You don’t have to be a slave to your equipment.
Whether natural or man-made, all beauty is a creative work. Our soul yearns to be awed and captivated. When we’re deprived of these opportunities, depression and apathy arise within us. Creative rest revives our failing hearts. Life becomes more enjoyable when we soak in beauty and light.
God contemplated His own work, saw that it was good, and then He did something unexpected. God rested. Not only did He introduce the concept of rest, He intentionally designed and practiced it.
We need periods of creative rest to rejoice in and contemplate God’s work.
We are weary from the evil we see, and it leaves us searching for the good in the world.
Creative rest lets you focus on your basic need for wonder.
Jobs with high demands on your creativity will require greater periods of creative rest to rejuvenate and liberate your creative juices.
No life is without ups and down. But it is possible to be satisfied in your innermost being, satiated on the journey of living.
We are not made for rest; rest was made for us. Rest is God’s gift back to His people.
For most, those rhythms are in ninety-minute to two-hour increments.6 Practice flowing in your daily activities in these time blocks followed by twenty minutes of a scheduled rest break. Get in the habit of flow-break-repeat.
The sacred is unexplainable. It bears witness with our soul without the need for interpretation.
Lovely is a life anchored in rest.
With excuses, we place external blame for internal problems and stay in a cycle of unproductivity. We make these excuses for various reasons, but the most prevalent is fear.
