Tragedy of Restlessness

If I were to ask you to just rest and do nothing all of today, what will you do?
Grab a newspaper, turn on the TV, logon the web, maybe do some shopping or balance your accounts?

If I told you, your food & clothing for all of this year is taken care of - what will you do with your life?
Book a holiday? Climb the Himalayas? Read all the books you've bought in the last year?

The tragedy of our ultra-modern life is there simply is no time for rest, and even if there was - we no longer know how to. Our culture is such that we are constantly distracted - by ads, newsflashes, SMS-es, latest movie releases, etc. We have made life so zippingly fast-paced, that we can't catch up with ourselves any more.

Anything we do, buy, read today is obsolete by the time we lay hands on it - somebody is inventing something better right now, a new discovery is being published today, the way you operate has been superceded by a smarter method. Sadly, though we are so breathless playing catch-up trying to stay focussed we no longer know what is rest much less how to get it.

At a time when we need to recover our humanity and meaning the most, we are swept away by a tide of artificial substitutes. Hollywood, MTV, the tourism and food industry make sure of that. What entertainment and every kind of sensual indulgence offers is a quick-fix, temporary relief, fleeting moments of pleasurable but imaginary escape which leaves us only more hungry, empty and lonely than before. But then, we've got to get back to work - who has time to think about it?

In a similar situation of exhaustion and starvation, Jesus, recognising the urgent need for recovery and nourishment intervened:'"Come away by yourselves to a lonely place and rest a while." (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.)

And they went away in the boat to a lonely place by themselves. (Mark 6:31-32, NASB)'I love the passage for what it doesn't say as much as what it does. Jesus doesn't say, 'Go away for awhile and come back ready to work again.' He doesn't send you away only when you are fatigued beyond use, and for the sole purpose of rehabilitating the workforce. And it isn't one of those company motivation and indoctrination retreats just to make you more aggressive and productive.

Source: Around The Fire by Dr Y.Y. Yap. "The Tragedy of Restlesness" was delivered at the Headstart Leaders' Spiritual Retreat, 16-18 September 2005.

After reading the above, there are times that we really do need a break if not, stress and burn out could occur thus causing sickness or demotivation to set in. I'm very careful in this area and when I work I could go all out. And when I play I do go all out too even in friendly games (doesn't mean I can't lose but frankly, I don't play to lose in the first place).

As for me, a rest day could involve going for a good massage to relief me from the stress. Soothing music with your muscles getting relaxed would be the choice for me. Holidays - well, it meant strolling around with family and friends with no fixed timing for anything and going for my favourite dishes. Yeah, I like to eat. How do you de-stress yourself?
Tags: Stress, Breathless, Exhaustion, Restlessness, Health