When I think about that line, “out with the old and in with the new” it reminds me of that scene from Shrek. It’s the process of getting rid of old habits or ways of living and making room for new ones. Typically the former habits weren’t the best and as the new year approaches we resolve to make better ones. Whether it is drinking more water, going to bed earlier, or for most, it seems exercising more. We all find ourselves at the crossroads of wanting to be better, but at what exactly? Do we want to be better humans, professionals, parents, etc? Or are we simply trying to become the best version of ourselves?
There was this one time when I asked my dad what his New Year’s resolutions were going to be. His response stuck with me till now. He said, “I don’t make new year’s resolutions. If something needs to change I just do it”. It was a ‘duh’ moment for me! Why do we usually wait till the start of the new year to make resolves of what we want to change? I think it’s human to want a fresh start or to start over again. However, I wonder sometimes if this is healthy. Granted, I’m sure some people stick to their New Year’s resolutions, but according to Forbes, “Studies have shown that less than 25% of people actually stay committed to their resolutions after just 30 days, and only 8% accomplish them” (Prossack 2018).
Therefore the article suggests that we should set goals rather than resolutions because goals tend to be more specific. While I generally agree with that, I also think that there is more than merely accomplishing some great feat. In an audiobook I listened to this past year called “To Hell With The Hustle”, the author, Jefferson Bethke, makes the argument that humans work best in rhythms and cycles (Bethke). Some refer to this as our circadian rhythm. For clarification, “circadian rhythms are 24-hour cycles that are part of the body’s internal clock…” (Suni). This is to say that our bodies are ‘go with the flow’ depending on the time of the day. If it’s dark outside then melatonin should be building up to get us tired and ready for bed. Then when the light of the morning rises your body wants to wake up.
What I’m trying to get at is that we are more than mere machines set to accomplish tasks and goals, but we were created, in some respects, to go with the flow. For example, your body needs sleep. You can’t function without it. If you don’t get an adequate amount of it you are on track for all sorts of health issues. The CDC states that the average adult needs at least 7 or more hours of sleep each night. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Another group says, “the average person spends about 26 years sleeping in their life which equates to 9,490 days or 227,760 hours. Surprisingly, we also spend 7 years trying to get to sleep. That’s 33 years or 12,045 days spent in bed!” (Curtis). That’s a lot of time spent trying to get sleep, to say the least! To some, I would imagine that you think you need more than this, for others like me, your looking for life hacks to get around this.
In a book, I’ve been reading at night called, “Why We Sleep”, by neuroscientist Matthew Walker Ph.D., an evolutionist, the argument is made that if sleep were a threat to our survival as a species then we would learn to survive off of less of it (Walker). However, we find ourselves still needing plenty of it, so it must be integral to our survival and not a threat to it. I agree with him, but from a theistic perspective, since the creation account alludes to this in Genesis 1 and 2. After, God finished creating the world, scripture says, “And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done” (Genesis 2:2 NKJV). We find that in a perfect world God still created mankind to rest even as God Himself, a perfect being, rested.
Now, I’m not suggesting that your New Year’s goal should be to get more sleep, but I do think it should be to get more rest. Usually, we think of rest in physical terms such as getting much-needed sleep. However, I’m suggesting the rhythmic rest that our natural circadian souls need. Jesus said, “come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29 NKJV). I enjoy word association in scripture, so it’s interesting that Jesus uses the word “yoke” in His promise of rest. If anyone is wondering, the yoke He is describing is the same yoke farmers would place on their oxen as they worked to plow the field, which is an indicator of the type of rest He is offering. It is not passive, but active.
Often when we are spent emotionally, mentally, and physically the American remedy is to take a vacation, but the spiritual ancient near eastern recommendation from Rabbi Jesus is to partake in the right kind of work. Analyzing the text more closely, He suggests taking “his yoke” upon ourselves because He is both “gentle and lowly in heart”. Historically, yokes are heavy and burdensome and yet for some reason, His is gentle, lowly, and providing this circadian rhythm of soul rest we are all needing. If rest was commanded in a perfect world, why not practice it in an imperfect one?
The way I’ve taken it upon myself this year to enter into this rest is through podcasting, blogging, and content creating. When the pandemic first hit us in 2020 I thought to myself, “I’m finally getting the rest I need”. It wasn’t even minutes later till my mind started racing and I was thinking of things to do. Immediately I looked into gardening because that seemed restful enough, but I found there’s so much that goes into and as I looked at my neighbors “farm” I thought to myself maybe I’m not that into it, nonetheless I kept up with it. Shortly after I divulged in many audiobooks and podcasts to the point of having consumed so much content that I felt the need to create an outlet to where I could burn off my informational calories through sharing my findings with a larger community, hence the podcasting and blogging.
Healthy activity is the rest I needed to keep my energy going. However, this wasn’t just any type of work. It was a work that has refreshed and replenished me and set me, howbeit a little bit more, back on my spiritual circadian rhythm. These pursuits in and of themselves have not been the answer to the rest I’ve been seeking, but they’ve opened me up to new levels of self-awareness and have forced me to confront if I like the person I’m becoming. 2020 has allowed some of us to rediscover our honest selves by giving us the space to confront who we are apart from what we do. I think I can now say that I love who I’m becoming because it’s no longer contingent upon how I’m performing, but in analyzing and participating in the restful rhythms of how I’m living.
So in 2021, instead of setting a New Year’s resolution and making a promise to yourself about doing or not doing a specific activity, I challenge you to find the things that fuel you as well as give you rest. Make it a goal to find your spiritual circadian rhythm. Afterall, rest isn’t passive, but active.
Resources:
- To Hell with the Hustle: Reclaiming Your Life in an Overworked, Overspent, and Overconnected World: https://www.amazon.com/Hell-Hustle-Reclaiming-Overworked-Overconnected/dp/0718039203
- Asking The Right Questions w/Aaron Jewett: https://www.buzzsprout.com/995131
Bibliography
Bethke, Jefferson. To Hell with the Hustle: Reclaiming Your Life in an Overworked, Overspent, and Overconnected World. Nashville, Tennessee, Thomas Nelson, 2019.
Bible Gateway. “Genesis 2:2.” New King James Version, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%202%3A2-3&version=NKJV.
Bible Gateway. “Matthew 11:28-29.” New King James Version, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2011%3A28-29&version=NKJV.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “How Much Sleep Do I Need?” CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017, https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about_sleep/how_much_sleep.html. Accessed 2 March 2017.
Curtis, Gemma. “Your Life In Numbers.” The Sleep Matters Club, Dreams. co, https://www.dreams.co.uk/sleep-matters-club/your-life-in-numbers-infographic/#:~:text=The%20average%20person%20spends%20about,trying%20to%20get%20to%20sleep.
Prossack, Ashira. “This Year, Don’t Set New Year’s Resolutions.” 2018. Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashiraprossack1/2018/12/31/goals-not-resolutions/?sh=4e012e4a3879.
Suni, Eric. “What is Circadian Rhythm.” Edited by Dr. Alex Dimitriu. 2020. SleepFoundation.org, https://www.sleepfoundation.org/circadian-rhythm.
Walker, Matthew. Why We Sleep. 1st Edition ed., New York, NY, Scribner, 2017.
Zachary Surovec 