Have you ever had a moment of respite from something taxing?
That amazing view after an 8-mile hike uphill.
The quiet and cool of the outdoors after stepping out of a punk rock show.
That first bite of food after playing some sport ball or ice puck.
Early Sunday morning has become that moment for me. A moment of calm in the midst of the busy and crazy. A moment to focus, center, reflect back, and look forward. A moment to which I look forward every week, but…
It wasn’t always that way.
I used to be a “sleep ‘til noon, stay up ‘til 3” kind of person. A “night owl,” if you will. I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to be up when it was still dark out. I knew that there were three meals during the day, I just thought those meals were lunch, supper, and midnight snack. Instead of finding a quiet recharge in the morning time, I found it… well… never.
I would go and then not stop going. If my calendar had white space I was doing it wrong. And that level of intensity for years on end drove me to a place of exhaustion. I was tense, irritable, and tired all the time. Honestly, I did not know what I was doing wrong. I did not know what was missing until I found and experienced it.
Rest.
Six months ago I found myself with white space in my calendar. I finished grad school, finished building out a coffee shop, and had time. I won’t lie to you, the push to fill that time with something new that required just as much from me as grad school or construction was definitely present, but so was something else — support.
Earlier in my life, I would do all of the fun, late-night things because everyone was. All of the people around me were both getting up late and staying up late. It was easy to fill time because everyone else was. If someone said “time to go to bed,” everyone else would push back and “help” them to stay longer. The support system was not so much a support system as a system of enabling — and I was a part of that system.
Now, I have people around me who will help me protect my time. They know when I take a day off and they protect that for me. I do the same for them. Rest and margin open up time for amazing things and, for me, bring about a healthier Rich.
That brings us all the way back to Sunday mornings.
Up until the last couple of years, I would have looked at you like you were nuts if you suggested doing something before 7:00 am. Now, most days start around 6:00 and Sundays begin at 4:45. The most interesting part about this is that I love it.
Without rest and reflection time, we cannot truly know the intensity of our lives. Without calm, there is no intense. Everything just is. It is the same with light. We cannot truly know light without darkness. Both are important. Be intense - but rest when you need to.
I love my Sunday mornings because they allow me to do just that. Rest, recharge, and put everything else in life into perspective. I hope you can find a “Sunday morning” of your own.
As always,
Rich