When was the last time you gave yourself a day off?

We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing. —GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

Investing more time in my personal wellbeing was THE VERY LAST THING I promised to do. I spend the most of my days taking care of other people’s problems, my kids’ needs, and home duties. Life has a weird way of keeping you insanely busy. When you look at your alarm clock and realize it is already 22:43 and question if it really needs to go off at 5:30 or if 6:00 would be sufficient.

This was the question that inspired me to devote myself more to my personal wellbeing: When was the last time you gave yourself a day off?

Even if your days are as jam-packed as mine, you can still find time to visit a museum, relax in a park, watch a play, or experience some other kind of cultural expression if you really want to. Really. In the larger scheme of things, what are a few hours spent creating a memory or experiencing an adventure worth? What’s a couple of hours if you need to refuel your soul and spirit?

Have you even taken the time to figure out what it is that you enjoy doing? Similarly to a relaxing pastime that allows you to go into a different world and refuel your energy reserves. Something that doesn’t need much effort yet nonetheless makes you happy. Does that even exist in your world? Have you ever consider setting aside some time to do it? Don’t try to fool me by saying that your interest consists solely of checking your friends’ latest status updates on Facebook.

Here is one passage on the topic of wellbeing from the Bible, out of many others, that is actually making a difference in my life:

Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life. And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God.   

(Ecclesiastes 5:18-19)

Reading this verse, I was struck by how the Bible emphasizes the importance of self-love before moving on to love for others. We are not living; we are merely surviving when we are constantly anxious, never able to relax and take pleasure in life, caught in a never-ending cycle of exhausting and toxic relationships, and obligated to perform, perform, perform.

I know many of us are survivors of past traumas and current conflicts, but God wants us to grasp that we cannot give if we do not have. We cannot love unless we love ourselves, and I would like to push you to love yourself and find time in your life to add a hobby that you can spend a small amount of time on and that will make you smile.

To wrap off this post, I want to declare God’s word over your current situation and season of your life.

It is Song of Solomon 2:11-13 AMPC

For, behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing [of birds] has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth and ripens her green figs, and the vines are in blossom and give forth their fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

Blessings