Treat Yo Self

Well it is that time of the year again…Spring Break…

Many of you have just returned from you week long break from school and the rest of you are in the middle of your vacations right now. 

Whether you are camping, skiing, beaching, or just enjoying a week off of school and having a nice staycation…one thing holds true…

It is never a bad thing to take care of yourself.

I have been thinking about this concept this past week all because of one reason…the Memphis Grizzlies.

Last week, Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger sat 4 key players to the Grizzlies line up.  Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph, Mike Conley, and Tony Allen would all be taking the night off when they played the Washington Wizards last Thursday.  Granted, Mike Conley was recovering from a sprained ankle he received the night before while playing the Boston Celtics.  Conley would return later that same game was seen limping and wearing a walking boot after the game.  Conley has continued to sit and rest up and make sure that he is 100% healthy before returning to playing.

This really made me think about something that I know I struggle with a lot….taking care of myself.

Sometimes I really struggle with doing things that I know I need to do because I get caught up in all the things that I think I need to get done.  I make those my priorities and work my butt off until the job is completed.  Then I pick a new task and start to work on that. 

The problem with this method is that you can quickly grow tired…and when you are tired…you are not working at your best.

In 1974, Herbert Freudenberger coined a term most people are familiar with these days…burnout. 

The problem when you focus so much on a task or a job or even school (yes, I said school) is that you burnout.  This can cause exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy, none of which sound like good things when it comes to anything related to how you work or perform in school.

Luckily, there is a way to prevent this from happening.  Just sit back and take a lesson from the Memphis Grizzlies…rest…take care of yourself.

In the famous words of Tom Haverford and Donna Meagle…Treat yo self!

Now, before toss your books off the desk and tell your teachers that you didn’t do your homework last night because you were treating yo’ self…

This excuse does not also work very well at work…if you did you may end up with a lot of free time on your hands, cause you would probably be fired.

But, there are still times that it is ok to treat yo’ self…let’s look a one example of a pretty awesome dude who lived about 2,000 years ago.

Jesus ate healthy, rested when he needed, and took time to relax…Matt 4:6-7; 26:18, 20; John 12:2).

He also would go off to be alone when he needed but then also would gather with his friends when that was what he needed.

Something else Jesus did a lot...he said no.

Not to everything but he said no to the things that were not good for him to do. 

Jesus did everything that he needed to do and did it passionately and whole heartedly.

This made me think...

As some of you know, I used to work as a carpenter before starting my job at the church.  I remember there was this one time I was working on a project and I just was not feeling it.  It was late in the work week, towards the end of the day and I had been working a lot of extra hours leading up to that day.  It was a relatively simple job.  It was an old jewelry cabinet that need some pieces replaced and to be touched up.  When it comes to wood working, they is so much going on that it can become mentally and physically exhausting and I had become burned out.  My work became sloppy.  I was not focused.  And I used any chance I could to work slower and take more breaks.  I was not very motivated to work hard on this project.  My heart was not into it.

I remember I took the following Friday off and spent the weekend relaxing and taking care of myself.  When I went back to work on Monday I started a new project.  We were working on refinishing an antique dresser.  They drawers were missing most of the knobs to open them.  Normally that is an easy fix, but since it was an antique, the pulls were these hand carved decorative knobs.

If you have ever carved anything out of wood, you may know that it is very tedious, time consuming, painful (finger cramps), and painful (chisels are very, very sharp!), and very frustrating.  One tiny mistake can ruin the whole thing and you have to start over.  Luckily, I was well rested and was feeling prepared to start my new project.  I didn’t make excuses this time... I just went right to work.

I was frustrated at the project a lot but that didn’t keep me from losing my focus like I had done on my previous project.  The end result... well, I was pretty darn proud of myself.

I was able to really focus on my new project and was able to put more of myself into the project because I was more present thanks to the few days of rest.

Many times we may have to push ourselves pretty hard to get over the mountain of life.  It is a lot of work and it is tiring to make that uphill battle. 

When we encounter these challenges, make sure you take care of yourself afterwards. 

Pay attention to yourself and your own needs every now and then.  When you are starting to feel burned out and that you may need a break...

Treat Yo’ Self!