Renewal By Taking Time Off

“I’d like to dial it back 5% or 10% and try to have a vacation that’s not just e-mail with a view.”

Elon Musk

When was the last time you took a day off – or even a half day off – from work?

The time between New Year’s Day and Memorial Day can seem like a long stretch for many of us who don’t have company sponsored holidays during this time frame. We fall into a pattern of getting up early, heading to work (or possibly to our working space in our homes), grinding it out for 10-12 hours per day, and doing it all over again the next day. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

We begin to understand the mindset of a rat stuck in a wheel. We run and run. We rarely stop. We grow weary. We begin to take on characteristics like the zombies in The Walking Dead.

While the days are starting to get longer in the northern hemisphere, we still find ourselves deprived of the vitamin D available through exposure to natural sunlight. And the pandemic has only served to increase the problem as most of us have faced government recommended travel restrictions.

We need to take a break! We need a day off!

I took Friday afternoon off from work, and it was wonderful!

Part of my day included having a catch with Dan Reischel. (He is on a mission to have a catch with 162 different people over the course of this years baseball season – 162 Games of Catch. You can follow his journey on Facebook or Instagram.) I also stopped by a local McDonald’s to pick up my annual Shamrock Shake. I took some time to read and relax. And I naturally was sure to get some steps in with the sun over my head (many of my steps happen before the sun comes up each morning).

The afternoon off was just what I needed to renew my energy and zest for life and for work. I know I’m heading into a challenging week at work, and it’s good to go into it feeling revived.

In this year of renew, it’s important to take time off. In some cases, I’ll take a half day. Sometimes, I’ll take a whole day off. And I’m also planning to take a few weeks off later this year.

A vacation day gives us a chance to catch our breath, a chance to setup for the next challenges, and a chance to re-calibrate and renew.

If you haven’t taken a day off or even a few hours off recently, it might be time for you to block off some time on your calendar. It might be just what you need!

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

Hebrews 4:9-11 (NIV)