Rest that Renews, Refreshes, and Recharges by Steph Beth Nickel

Since March 2020, I’ve slept more than ever. Although I didn’t feel depressed in the classic sense, it was evident that news of the pandemic and the lockdowns had an effect on my emotional well-being—as they did with pretty much everyone else in one way or another.

But was that rest invigorating? Not at all.

Even now, I find it hard to stay focused on the task before me. I’ve streamed more TV shows and watched more YouTube videos than is advisable. Needless to say, these activities (or lack thereof) haven’t refreshed or recharged me.

I had hoped to add 20,000 words to my YA speculative fiction novel during July. Nope! That didn’t happen. I did write several thousand words for my clients. So, there’s that.

So, if sleeping, watching TV, and binging YouTube aren’t the kind of rest writers need, what can renew and recharge us?

Healthy Food

We’ve all heard of “the COVID 19,” the weight many of us have gained over the last year and a half. The combination of inactivity, comfort food, and heavy heartedness has taken its toll. While there’s no need to beat ourselves up about it—and no benefit to be gained by doing so, eating healthy food will make us feel better long before it helps us shed that excess weight.

Lots of Water

Many of us have also decreased our water intake and increased our consumption of high calorie beverages. Not a fan of water from the tap? Caffeine-free, herbal tea counts, as does my favourite way to drink enough water, the many flavours of calorie-free sparkling water that are now available. I’m still drinking iced coffee and iced chai lattes, but I’m limiting those.

Adequate Physical Activity

You knew I was going to mention exercise. It really does go a long way to improve our mental well-being as well as our physical health. Now may not be the time to start a brand-new exercise routine, but going for a walk or a bike ride, getting out and playing catch with your kids, or going for a swim, may be just what you need. Personally, I love a good resistance workout, but I have to get back into the habit and take it slowly. There’s nothing like overdoing it to sabotage my efforts.

Fresh Air and Sunshine

No matter how much we love our home and our family, the past 17 months have shown us how much we need to leave our four walls from time to time. A walk in the fresh air will do wonders for our peace of mind as well as count toward the physical activity we need.

Social Interaction

Whether you’re an introvert or an extra-extrovert like me, you were made for social interaction. My hubby and I helped friends move recently, and when Sandra gave me a hug, I was flooded with the realization of just how much I’d been missing human contact. While you may not be a hugger, you may be surprised at just how big a void you’ve experienced because of the isolation. No wonder we’re tired and many of us haven’t been near as productive as we would have liked.

A Schedule

Sometimes, the extra motivation of a (flexible) schedule can keep us on track. Including “white space” on our schedule that we devote to those things that charge our batteries (i.e.: pleasure reading, listening to an educational/motivational podcast, working on one of our own creative projects, etc.) can go a long way to refreshing us.

And yes …

Consistent Sleep Habits

I’ve never been great at going to bed and getting up at the same time every day, but it’s a good habit to develop. As long as we’re getting adequate sleep and recharging with other forms of “rest,” we should have increasing stores of creative energy to get back to those projects that we may have set aside.

While some of these suggestions don’t sound like rest, if true rest is what renews, refreshes, and recharges us, we just may need to broaden our definition.

A TIME FOR EVERYTHING by Bryan Norford

I’ve been reading with interest responses to writer’s block, which appears to be the experience of most—Glynis excepted: way to go, girl!—but providing varied responses to the phenomenon. Most feel it is a battle to fight, especially if it impedes deadlines or commitment. Both Bobbi and Tracy have some good tips on that.

Even then, we fight not against bricks and mortar, or more close to home, blocks and writer, but against spiritual opposition from the highest levels. But some, like Sandi and Connie, have suggested writer’s block is part of the ebb and flow of a writer’s spiritual life.

Perhaps we can garner support for that idea from Solomon: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven . . . ” Ecclesiastes 3:1. Ann and I penned a devotional in our book, Happy Together, showing how this “interference” is really part of earthly life.

There’s nothing like a day of accomplishment when everything goes according to plan and is complete. But we also have frustrating days of redo, repair, or failure, achieving nothing of significance.

Upon reflection, we realize that there must be times for preparation, planning, and evaluation; times for correcting previous work or adapting to changing circumstances; even times for rethinking and renewing the way we live.

In the big picture both the time of advance and apparent retreat are all part of the same process. To advance tomorrow as we did yesterday, we may need to retrench today. Today’s reading (Eccl. 2:9–14) gives some rationale to this process. In it we recognize a bigger picture than we can see, even when questions are unanswered: “the burden God has laid on men.”

This is particularly true of the setbacks of life, which baffle us. At those times Ecclesiastes exhorts us to find satisfaction in the daily routine, recognizing that every day has meaning in God’s bigger picture beyond our grasp.

Relationship in marriage is much the same. The conflict and abrasion between partners discourages us. Stopping and dealing with interpersonal relations seems an unnecessary disruption in other important areas of life.

But in the larger picture, it is part of the process, as necessary as the times of joy and companionship together—and in the end deepens the relationship.

It’s often necessary to leave the big picture to God and trust him with what we can’t figure out.

So let’s put that infernal writer’s block in its place. It’s an opportunity to recharge; perhaps to read, wander, smell the roses. Above all, enjoy the pleasure of His company and so deepen the well from which inspiration springs.