Yesterday I took a lunch break with some of my family (it’s spring break so the kids are home) and did a crossword with my husband. And I didn’t work overtime but stopped even though there was more I could have done. The morning reading was great for helping me choose to step away from work!
Corrie, I love that you did a crossword while taking a break. My tradition has become to do sudoku puzzles over my lunch break… I love how it takes my concentration away from all the work related thoughts.
Yesterday was a busy and hectic day, but starting my "work time" with a group prayer, and knowing that I would attend a Maundy service prayer anchored me well.
Mid-day I intentionally paused to prepare and eat lunch with gratitude filling my heart.
Even though the day was busy, I was mindful of breaks, breathing, stretching and even sit-ups (smile).
I love what you’ve said about how anticipating a Maundy Thursday service anchored you well. That’s how I felt, too, but I didn’t have the vocabulary to express it! Thank you so much for sharing your words of wisdom and giving voice to my own experience… This is one of the many blessings of working through self-care within a community
Ceasing doesn’t usually come easy for me … I have been improving in this regard and yet I still notice I’m prone to the influences of the environment around me, i.e., if my coworkers all stay late to finish things up, I tend to do the same. I’m wondering if I could set a daily alarm in my phone (with a special tone) to remind me to cease.
I am SO THANKFUL … having this particular portion about ceasing as yesterday’s assignment was a small example of God’s perfect timing.
Normally, I take a proper lunch break. (Thankfully, my current workplace has a healthier attitude toward taking an actual break, instead of eating lunch while working at a desk which has been my experience at other jobs.) I leave the office, come home (5 mins from work), let my dog out, eat, and then work on sudoku puzzles till it’s time to go back.
BUT yesterday was an exception… I was on-call, some truly urgent stuff came up, and I ended up working through my scheduled lunch break. At 3:30 PM, I finally had time for documentation. HOWEVER, I remembered the practice of ceasing. I closed my office door, put in earbuds, did a 12 minute meditation, and said a short prayer. I felt immediately relieved. It ended up being well-timed, because another crisis came up at 4:05 PM …
I also practiced ceasing by going to the Maundy Thursday service last night. I worked late, and my impulse was to get fast food and veg out at home. But I had really been looking forward to this service, so I grabbed a healthy snack & headed to church for a beautiful service that fed my soul. Then, I came home and had a nourishing supper.
I’m also grateful for yesterday’s reminders to monitor for unhealthy self-talk as a form of ceasing. I was overthinking and became self-critical, then I said to myself, “I am gonna cease this bullshit thinking. I am smart, I’m doing a good job, and I’m going to do some major ceasing at the end of the day!” Not the holiest of wording, but it was effective and it made me smile!
Colleen, so goo of you to have remembered to pause at 3:30pm. A needed action of self-care, not knowing that another crisis was around the corner for you to attend to. What a blessing for spiritual nourishment!!
Confession: This has been one of the hardest relearning methodologies for me- knowing when and how to stop. I've been so conditioned to correlate my worth with productivity. So, although I am a day late, one of the things that I did today was to give myself time to breathe!!!!
I’ve been thinking about this the last few days. For much of the teaching term I was doing well at not working evenings but during this end of term crunch time, I’ve begun again. I had in my head, and even on my phone alarm to stop at 9pm but I “just wanted to finish something off” and the next thing I knew it was 9.45pm and I hadn’t begun winding down for the night. I need to return to the “template” starting today.
Yesterday I took a lunch break with some of my family (it’s spring break so the kids are home) and did a crossword with my husband. And I didn’t work overtime but stopped even though there was more I could have done. The morning reading was great for helping me choose to step away from work!
Corrie, I love that you did a crossword while taking a break. My tradition has become to do sudoku puzzles over my lunch break… I love how it takes my concentration away from all the work related thoughts.
Yesterday was a busy and hectic day, but starting my "work time" with a group prayer, and knowing that I would attend a Maundy service prayer anchored me well.
Mid-day I intentionally paused to prepare and eat lunch with gratitude filling my heart.
Even though the day was busy, I was mindful of breaks, breathing, stretching and even sit-ups (smile).
I love what you’ve said about how anticipating a Maundy Thursday service anchored you well. That’s how I felt, too, but I didn’t have the vocabulary to express it! Thank you so much for sharing your words of wisdom and giving voice to my own experience… This is one of the many blessings of working through self-care within a community
Community here has been so good
Ceasing doesn’t usually come easy for me … I have been improving in this regard and yet I still notice I’m prone to the influences of the environment around me, i.e., if my coworkers all stay late to finish things up, I tend to do the same. I’m wondering if I could set a daily alarm in my phone (with a special tone) to remind me to cease.
I am SO THANKFUL … having this particular portion about ceasing as yesterday’s assignment was a small example of God’s perfect timing.
Normally, I take a proper lunch break. (Thankfully, my current workplace has a healthier attitude toward taking an actual break, instead of eating lunch while working at a desk which has been my experience at other jobs.) I leave the office, come home (5 mins from work), let my dog out, eat, and then work on sudoku puzzles till it’s time to go back.
BUT yesterday was an exception… I was on-call, some truly urgent stuff came up, and I ended up working through my scheduled lunch break. At 3:30 PM, I finally had time for documentation. HOWEVER, I remembered the practice of ceasing. I closed my office door, put in earbuds, did a 12 minute meditation, and said a short prayer. I felt immediately relieved. It ended up being well-timed, because another crisis came up at 4:05 PM …
I also practiced ceasing by going to the Maundy Thursday service last night. I worked late, and my impulse was to get fast food and veg out at home. But I had really been looking forward to this service, so I grabbed a healthy snack & headed to church for a beautiful service that fed my soul. Then, I came home and had a nourishing supper.
I’m also grateful for yesterday’s reminders to monitor for unhealthy self-talk as a form of ceasing. I was overthinking and became self-critical, then I said to myself, “I am gonna cease this bullshit thinking. I am smart, I’m doing a good job, and I’m going to do some major ceasing at the end of the day!” Not the holiest of wording, but it was effective and it made me smile!
Colleen, so goo of you to have remembered to pause at 3:30pm. A needed action of self-care, not knowing that another crisis was around the corner for you to attend to. What a blessing for spiritual nourishment!!
What great modeling of ceasing!
Confession: This has been one of the hardest relearning methodologies for me- knowing when and how to stop. I've been so conditioned to correlate my worth with productivity. So, although I am a day late, one of the things that I did today was to give myself time to breathe!!!!
Pausing for new breath...AMEN..
AMEN!
I’ve been thinking about this the last few days. For much of the teaching term I was doing well at not working evenings but during this end of term crunch time, I’ve begun again. I had in my head, and even on my phone alarm to stop at 9pm but I “just wanted to finish something off” and the next thing I knew it was 9.45pm and I hadn’t begun winding down for the night. I need to return to the “template” starting today.