Taking a time out

Yesterday was Sunday. It was a busy Sunday. I think that’s how Sunday’s tend to be if you’re involved in your church.

At the end of Sunday (well, let’s be real…in the middle of Sunday) I realized I was tired in all the ways. My body was tired of course. (I mean I had a crazy week and it’s usually tired). But, my soul was tired. While I’m currently living for September when I’m spending 4 days at the lake, I realized I probably should do something right now or my soul might not make it til then. Because, let’s face it there’s a lot of hurdles between now and then (including jury duty…I can’t. Uggg).

I read about taking a “Sabbath” and someone spoke of how they did it in the morning on Wednesday’s. I thought, wow…that’s a fascinating idea. To just check out and do whatever your soul and body needs you to do to get back in alignment. So I decided to do that.

The flaw in the system was I had a dentist appointment at 10, so I planned my “sabbath” time out for 1-5pm. And I set rules (cuz I know me)

1. Cell phone on DND. There are 8 people (I counted) who are on the list to break through. You know in case of emergencies. What I didn’t realize was notifications (FB and insta) still come through. I think in the future I might roll into airplane mode. I am not sure why I’m afraid to be totally unreachable, but airplane mode scares me lol. Today I just turned my phone upside down. I use it for music so I couldn’t put it away.

2. Go somewhere. If I stay at home inside my house, I’ll be tempted to do things. I had started laundry that morning. It needed doing. The rule is to at least start out somewhere else. Today since it was raining, I went to a covered area by the river.

3. Allowable activities…anything that gives your soul and body rest. That might be different for you. For me, reading, listening to music, staring in front of me…all allowable.

4. Napping is allowed for part of the time. After a few hours my soul felt better but my body was still tired. So I went home and took a nap. The difference. Normally I nap with the food network. Today I napped with the Spotify playlist from tC worship.

That’s about it. It wasn’t anything hard or weird. It was just a time out and I felt better. I didn’t feel like I needed to be anything for anyone. I didn’t have a plan. I had options. I just communed with nature and with the God that created it. And I rested.

I still have laundry in the washer. Lol. Yup friends, that’s real life.

Next week, I’ll do it again. Your soul needs rest. And you’re worth it to find whatever time you can in your busy life to take a time out. Be unreachable. It’ll be ok. The world didn’t end.