I Haven't Showered In Two Days

Its Tuesday Morning. I'm sitting at my kitchen table working on my laptop writing my blog. I got up this morning at 6, went to the gym, had some oats, started going through emails, and now I'm writing my blog. I haven't showered since Sunday morning before church.

I've got more emails to go through, phone calls to make, studying to do, people to see. There is going to to be a fellowship at our house tonight, and then I'm going to meet someone at 930 tonight for some coffee. I've got a pretty full day ahead of me.

So here was my day yesterday- I got up, put on my sweats, took the kids to school. Played video games most of the day, picked up the kids. Spent time with kids and wife. Stayed in sweats. No shower. No phone calls. No people. No email. I only got on Facebook one time.

Why am I telling you this? Because in all honesty, yesterday was a painful day for me. Why? because in my eyes, I was totally and completely unproductive. I sat around all day and the only thing I was able to accomplish was finishing Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. In my sweats.

Not 'doing' is something that I struggle with. It pains me to do nothing. I feel guilty. I feel worthless. If I'm not actively engaged in productivity, it seems to me as if I am wasting my life away. That the clock is ticking and I'm being watched and judged on my outcomes. Most days I feel like this. I know. Its kind of weird isn't it?

Or is it? I'm sure there are some other 'productivity junkies' out there. That can't relax. Refuse to do nothing. Who on any given day can be found either working or finding something to work on around the house. Its 'in our blood' so to speak. We're hardwired to work, and when we don't do it, we feel lost.

But here's what I was thinking about yesterday- Even God rested. Yep, its in there, he created the heavens and the earth, and on the 7th day he rested. He didn't do anything I guess, probably went and did a round of golf with some of the angels or something. He just rested.

It got me to thinking, if God rested, so should I. I shouldn't feel guilty about hiding away in my sweats and doing nothing. When I have a day that I don't even shower, or shave, or do anything that resembles an outcome, its okay. I don't have to be defined by, or controlled by some sort of notion of a required outcome. Sometimes, its okay to just rest, and be.

Do you struggle with this? Here's the nugget for the day- every once in a while, you need to do nothing. Nada, zilch, bupkis. Just sit around and veg. Its oddly revitalizing to unplug and rest. I find that when I do it, I come back to my tasks with a renewed vigor and enthusiasm. Maybe God knew this, that's probably why he tells us to do this once a week.

If you spend most of your time doing nothing then this blog probably isn't for you. If you're a workhorse like me, hopefully this will strike a chord.

Be blessed.
matt