Five Minute Friday: Replenish the empty stores

“How long did it take for you to write the books and complete the MA?”

“Three years,” I said.

“And how long do you think you’d give someone else to do that?”

“Hmmm…. Probably five years.”

“So you’re two years ahead! You can take some time off.”

As I think about a conversation with a wise friend yesterday, I know I enter 2018 with far fewer deadlines than in the recent past. That’s the plan, for I’m tired and worn out. Yes, I want to write some more books and ponder what I’ve learned about Christian spirituality, but not right away. But how do we just turn off the drive to do, do, do? To accomplish something? To make a difference? And how do we do that in a world of social media, where I see authors signing contracts for their next books while wondering if I’m missing out?

We – that is, I – need to be intentional in my plan to rest. Yesterday in my conversation I talked about adding another word-of-the-year, this one replenish, one that a friend from high school had uttered a week ago and stuck with me. As I mentioned this word to my wise friend, she shared its Latin root and assured me that it’s an apt word to describe the filling up that I need to do this year.

Being intentional about resting seems counterintuitive to me, however. I am used to deadlines, goals, projects. I will need to adjust my approach. This week, the first week after fulfilling major deadlines, I’ve allowed myself to flop and watch some shows and not accomplish much at all. Next week I’ll make some gentle goals – such as taking down the Christmas decorations (!), playing around with some craft things, and going for walks in the brook.

How do you replenish your empty stores?

This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up. You can find today’s prompt here. If you are thinking about using a Lent book here, I wrote one during that busy time on the theme of forgiveness, The Living Cross.