THE ART OF THE NAP
This is something I've never learned. I took naps when I was a baby, so I'm told. Since then, not a napper. Even when I've decided it sounds like a good idea, I just lay there with my eyes shut for a long time, then get up and think to myself, "I just wasted 30 minutes of my lifetime that I'll never get back". Bummer.
So, if I go to sleep during the daylight hours, there's got to be something terribly wrong. Even then, I tend to fight it. Seems like such a waste of time. There's so many things I could be doing. So much productivity I'm missing out on. I think I even feel guilty when I even think about it. I need to be working. I need to be producing. I need to be doing. Yep, I've drank the Kool-Aid. I'm a Human Doing rather than a Human Being.
I've been sick, and after many attempts to deny and postpone the obvious, I succumbed to slumber. Yep, right there in the middle of the day...while the Sun was shining. I did no work. I had nothing to show for 2 hours of my life but a little drool in the corner of my mouth. It may have been the wisest decision I've made in months...maybe years.
Why? I listened to my body. It needed rest. It was telling me that, loud and clear. But, my ego said otherwise. I listened to my body and submitted to it's needs, desires, demands. I'm the better for it today.
I know you couldn't care less whether I take a nap. So, what's my point? My point is this: I believe that listening to our bodies is a lot like listening to God. There was no audible voice. I didn't read it in the Body Manual. I even argued with it. But, there was a nagging sense that this was what I needed to do. It cut against the grain of what I thought I should be doing. What my flesh (not my body, my flesh, my stupid nature, my sin nature, my ego) was telling me was that I needed to work...just power on through...be tough...be a man...work...don't be a sissy. My body was saying, "Hey idiot, if you ever want to get well, STOP...SLEEP...REST!"
My body was right. I listened. (miracle!) And today, I'm better. When we listen to God and obey, it's always better. We're always better. But, there's always a fight. I guess that's why they call it SURRENDER.
So, if I go to sleep during the daylight hours, there's got to be something terribly wrong. Even then, I tend to fight it. Seems like such a waste of time. There's so many things I could be doing. So much productivity I'm missing out on. I think I even feel guilty when I even think about it. I need to be working. I need to be producing. I need to be doing. Yep, I've drank the Kool-Aid. I'm a Human Doing rather than a Human Being.
I've been sick, and after many attempts to deny and postpone the obvious, I succumbed to slumber. Yep, right there in the middle of the day...while the Sun was shining. I did no work. I had nothing to show for 2 hours of my life but a little drool in the corner of my mouth. It may have been the wisest decision I've made in months...maybe years.
Why? I listened to my body. It needed rest. It was telling me that, loud and clear. But, my ego said otherwise. I listened to my body and submitted to it's needs, desires, demands. I'm the better for it today.
I know you couldn't care less whether I take a nap. So, what's my point? My point is this: I believe that listening to our bodies is a lot like listening to God. There was no audible voice. I didn't read it in the Body Manual. I even argued with it. But, there was a nagging sense that this was what I needed to do. It cut against the grain of what I thought I should be doing. What my flesh (not my body, my flesh, my stupid nature, my sin nature, my ego) was telling me was that I needed to work...just power on through...be tough...be a man...work...don't be a sissy. My body was saying, "Hey idiot, if you ever want to get well, STOP...SLEEP...REST!"
My body was right. I listened. (miracle!) And today, I'm better. When we listen to God and obey, it's always better. We're always better. But, there's always a fight. I guess that's why they call it SURRENDER.
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