Take Time to Rest

This week had an abundance of doing, but also times of rest. My husband got really sick and finally went to the doctor. Testing isn’t done, but they gave him some meds to help with the digestive track issues in the meantime. Resting, including not eating, has normalized things, so he has finally eaten some basic foods this weekend.

Of course, this has led to me doing a lot to help him out. It definitely tested my multiple sclerosis in that I drove three days in the past week. Gripping things too long with my left hand produces weird cramping. Thankfully, the round trips were only forty minutes. But I also lugged some groceries, including cat litter, into the house. It definitely tested my body and makes me wonder about a trip I want to do in January.

In January, the Hope Story conference happens. As a certified coach for Hope*Writers, I get the fun of setting up in the Coach’s Corner where members can learn what services I offer. Even better is I get to hang out with some coaches that I have gotten to know well through our training and with continued Zoom calls. Two days are half days, but there is a full day in the middle. I already set out a plan to get there early and leave the day after, so I have time to rest between travel and the event. Traveling kills me and I know Friday will be LONG.

I’m not letting the chronic issues of multiple sclerosis derail enjoying life, but it takes a lot of thinking about how to step out and do things I enjoy beyond my local. I haven’t been over 45 miles away from home in months, maybe a couple of years now. That made me a homebody. I also have had a couple years where I haven’t walked as much. I’m terrible at finding something consistent to do at home for exercise. That has always been the case, even if there are options I like.

The added desire to see if I could get a novel written and edited so I could release it in November did not help. I love writing and reading. Both are very sit butt somewhere and do it activities. They aren’t much help on the moving part. Which leads to needing a break from them, too. A rest period from writing looks like housework, stretching, or getting my butt in motion for a walk. The body needs to move.

God set up a good plan for work and rest. He made our bodies perfect, but in our fallen world, many things can mess that up. A digestive track infection can floor you for a week or a chronic illness can make life wonky for years. However, rest and movement in the right amounts helps immensely. Whether healthy or not, our bodies tell us when to sleep, when to move, and if things aren’t right.

I’ve found that I got too many projects going with my writing and I did a lot this year. I went through a coaching certification. I wrote a novel and am close to the final editing stages now. There are weekly activities for three writing organizations and two small groups to do. I volunteered to be a judge in a writing contest that is in progress. The certification process led to finally setting up a webpage for my writing and coaching. With all that, it’s like a full-time job, but one I can change my hours as needed, and it is never 8 hours straight. I also am leading a training based on a book for six weeks, which started last week, with the organization I am a certified coach for.

When it comes down to it, I want to enjoy life, but not wear myself out doing so. The intention of producing a book in a year is doable. However, it won’t happen while also doing some intensive training. Book three of my Christian fantasy series will release in January, but I may have a soft launch where it is on preorder by the holidays. That is fine by me. This way, I’m giving it time to have the full edits it requires to be my best book yet. It will allow time to poke at my website and really tweak my initial coaching setup there.

Upon writing this post, I figured out it will be the 92nd one on this blog that has been pretty steady at being weekly over the past two years. I started it in September 2022, but really got serious about keeping it regular in 2023. Considering timing, if I had been properly weekly, I would be about 15 more posts further along. Not bad, considering all the other writing related things I’ve done in that time.

It’s been a busy life with lots of trials. However, when I pace myself, leave some buffer room in my plans for the unexpected, and rely on God as my pilot in life, things go well. My life is abundant and has steadily gotten better, despite chronic illness, over the past few years. It’s the natural outcome when you follow God’s plan of work and rest.

Analyze where your life is at. In order to have the right amount of rest with the fun and work you do, you may have to say no to some things. That is okay. A quarterly check up with yourself is a good thing. Keeping a journal, calendar, and/or other tracker of what you did compared to what you wanted to do is a good thing. Include how the quarter felt. Did you get too tired? Has something changed that you have to account for in future planning? Take all that and discuss it with God. It’s worth the time to just digest the past quarter and make a plan for the next, with rest as important as activity.

Picture from Pixaby.com