I always hated the middle of a semester at school. It didn’t make any difference if I was a Freshman, Senior, or in my Master’s program. Something about the middle of the semester always killed me…
Exhaustion.
Every year, it was the same. I would try new things; using a planner, changing my diet, organizing my workspace and making sure that I was keeping tabs on all the work that I had to get done, getting up early, and scheduling classes differently. I had everything mapped out at the beginning of a course; due dates, reading assignments. “Surely,” I thought, “This semester I would be able to stay on top of things.”
And it worked!
Well, for about four or five weeks. I’d get assignments done and turned in on time, stay on top of my book reading. But, inevitably, the usual event happened… I’d crash. Hard.
What started off as a great semester with A’s and B’s would quickly descend into “What’s considered a passing grade?”
And it wasn’t because I was lazy, or distracted, or unmotivated. My brain and body would simply go into ‘low power mode’ without my consent. Everything became more difficult. Just focusing on a single page of an article would take an exorbitant amount of time to accomplish. Assignments began to pile up, I’d draw more and more blanks on exams, and I was always tired… so, so tired. It didn’t even matter how long I slept, I was always tired.
I still got my work done, however. Well, enough of it to maintain a decent grade point average. Some things fell through the cracks, like forgetting about an exam and showing up to class with nothing but a pencil in my pocket while everyone else was cramming in some last-minute studying and looking over their allowed one-page of hand-written notes. Oops!
There was even one time when, because I had pushed off work for so long due to sheer exhaustion, that I once woke up and had 3 papers due the upcoming midnight. I spent all of that day writing three 10-page papers. I would like to add: I got A’s on all three of them. I wasn’t a dummy, just… well…
Burned out.
And that’s how every semester would go. I’d crawl across the finish line bound and determined to not let my classes get away from me like they did. Lather, rinse, repeat.
I thought I was doing everything I could. I finally conceded that I just wasn’t cut out for continuous work, and I’d never be able to perform (at least academically) at the same level as some of my peers for an extended period of time. I was, in my mind, mediocre.
Except, there was something that I missed. Mostly because I didn’t really know much about it, at least not enough to fit it into my life: rest.
More specifically, Sabbath rest. I was spending so much time and energy trying to stay above the fray that I never gave myself space to “unwind” and disconnect.
Something odd happened when I began to regularly take a Sabbath day while I was a pastor. Not only was I able to remain on top of my work schedule and stay abreast with all of my responsibilities, but I began to become more disciplined in other areas of my life and truly felt like I was excelling beyond the limits I thought I had. I was reading more, writing more, trying new things, and really began to realize how much potential I had to grow in my competencies.
Sabbath rest is a critical component in maintaining a healthy rhythm of living. As such, it’s a bit too large of a topic to summarize in one post, so I’m going to have at least a couple posts dedicated to exploring how significant it is.
If you haven’t begun to regularly integrate “rest” into your life, I encourage you to do so. One day a week, preferable the same day, say, “I’ve done what I can this week. I’m going to allow my mind and body to rest from work today.”
I know that it seems ridiculous to suggest. But, I promise you, if you can begin to invest in some Sabbath space, you will be surprised how its effects ripple out into the rest of your life. Maybe you think you’re too busy to do that, but let me say this: you’re too busy to not do that. Work like a dog for 6 days, just make sure you have that space where you can step back. There’s a reason God instructed us to “Honor the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”
Sabbath is something we need to do. We’re made for Sabbath, and the Sabbath was made for us.
Strait Talk 