January 28, 2004
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Three Kinds of Rest
Every time I travel away from home, though I enjoy myself thoroughly, I still always end up feeling like I am "dying". After this last trip to the Bay area, I figured out why. There are three kinds of rest which make me feel happy and whole. Even if I have the adequate amount of one of the three, everything within me still aches in exhaustion. The first two may be familiar to most of you, but the last is little understood by half of the population.
Physical rest - rest for the body obtained through sleep (approximately 8 hours).
Spiritual rest - rest for the soul and spirit obtained from the combination of two things: 1. Deep prayers when my heart touches the heart of God, where burdens are lifted, confusion is talked over and dispersed, repentance and contrition is reached and joy and thanksgiving is proclaimed. 2. Sweet time in the Word, where God speaks directly and specifically to me with Truth that changes, challenges, convicts and intersects with my life.
Introverted rest - rest for the inner being obtained from abstaining from social interaction. It's obtained from sitting in silence and solitude, from mulling over different thoughts, ideas, interactions, exchanges. I find that after spending a whole day with people, I need to spend a whole day by myself to recover. It wipes me out so completely. Just sleeping or even just reading the Bible and praying doesn't help. I need to just sit and vege and "think" for hours and hours by myself... Anyone else feel this way?
Comments (9)
yes! i totally know what you mean. it's always hard for me at the end of the day when i just want to be quiet on my own, and then my extroverted roommate comes home...
I really try to work in consistent by-myself-time even when I'm out and about. I think that's why I wake up early in the morning. I need like 3 hrs of solitude before I really want to see anyone. So those 8 o'clock classes and other early morning events kill me. ICK.
But I think for me there is a fine line between my introverted thinking and God time. Something if I do too much introverted thinking I get twisted up into crazy knots which I have to work out in God time. Does that make sense?
Very well said. I totally agree with your physical rest and spiritual rest part. I probably don't need time for introverted rest though. I think my third type of rest would be more like a 'reorganizing' type of rest - a time for me to do my laundry, to organize my stuff, clean up, plan out my schedule...stuff like that. I feel annoyed and unsettled if my stuff weren't organized for long period of time.
yup! in some ways I think physical rest is connected to all of these. Because I find when I'm not physically rested, it opens me up to a lot more discouragement, sin, etc. and totally bogs me down.
Yes, I need that introverted rest too, but I can probably go longer without it. I need at least half a day or preferably one full day just me. I can spend a whole day never leaving the home and be more than "just fine" with it.
hmm.. i think i'm finding out more and more that i'm less introverted than i thought.. bc the idea of being alone for half a day or a full day doesn't entirely appeal to me.. after a long day of doing stuff, ideally i'd like to go into a friends room and just veg and share and talk. but i do like running errands by myself..
u keep talking abt all this trip/airplane flying.. how come u were in the bay area?
i think i need physically rest after a day of hanging out, cuz if i'm tired i get super cranky, but i don't necessarily like being alone too much. i enjoy hanging around with friends more than hanging around by myself.
completely agree with you...especially the 3rd one. you're right, the first two are sort of obvious...I guess the 3rd one only makes sense depending on personality type...though for myself I can't imagine living without large chunks of it.
definitely gotta have the introverted rest. i usually get tired even after half a day of classes, and i need to have that alone time. yay for the I's
and the E's, of course. i love em both!
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