After last week’s message about rest, maybe you did what I did: Played calendar Tetris to try and squeeze in a day or two of rest.
It was something the dentist said to me, as I was preparing for a root canal, that caught my attention and made me think about this time of rest in a completely different way. I had waited over two weeks to make an appointment, thinking the pain might just disappear on its own. When my dentist heard this, he made a poignant comment:
“You know, Johanna, if you don’t allow us to attend to the pain immediately, you run the risk of the nerve dying.”
Take a moment, and let this concept hit home.
If we neglect our areas of pain, we run the risk of numbing ourselves to the feeling of pain.
How true is that for grief—and how true is that for our need for rest.
Over the next two hours, the dentist proceeded to talk me through each step of my root canal. I could not help but internalize each step as a method for not only learning to rest but creating a life of rest.
Diagnostic Assessment
Last week, I talked about the symptoms of needing rest [link]. Without taking the time to look at my life and realize something is not right, I could go on and say to myself: “Well, this is what everyone’s life is like today, right?”
Instead, I want to compare myself to the life of which I’ve always dreamed.
In recent weeks, I’ve questioned, what would it be like to thrive?
Would it be having margin? Maybe feeling rested and being able to take time away regularly? Or perhaps being able to bring all of myself to my family and my clients?
My diagnostic assessment shows me there is something more than what I was feeling.
Preparation
Do you need to prepare for a couple of hours/days away or a life overhaul? The first part of preparation is usually deciding what you can surrender. What’s incredible is when you begin with, well, everything. I hold too much that is not necessary too close. In the act of surrender, I discover what is meant to be close and what can be released.
Preparation may then look less like vacation planning and more like weeding or lavish landscaping.
Begin the Healing Action
When the area has been exposed in a root canal, it is now time for the healing action. It’s time to tend to the wounds. When we want to create a life of rest, we need to identify what needs to be tended to. Perhaps there is a wound that has been left open from a recent hurt and the busyness has been keeping you distracted. Now is the time to care for it.
Identify the Root Cause
If we actually want to create a life of rest and not just a day of rest, then it’s imperative that we look for the root cause. For me, it is a financial aspiration for my life to look similar to what it did before 2018. My life is not the same as what it was six years ago, but for some reason, this dream is still pushing me toward an unnatural goal. The next step is learning to create a new cause.
Cleanse/Rebuild/Fortify
Once we see the main issue, we have the opportunity to cleanse the area once and for all. We can build strong fortifications for the space that has been left empty. In my life, this looks like finally being able to carve out time for meaningful and spontaneous conversations with people I care about. This has long been lost, and this act of availability means my roots will be fortified by love.
Here are a few questions for you as you contemplate your life of rest:
- What do you think is the root cause keeping you from living a restful life?
- What are you clinging on to that is taking up your time unnecessarily?
- What would true rest look like?