Release Yourself

  
As I was having some quiet time this morning, my heart was just aching for other mommas and parents and ministers and friends that I know need a change in their lives, but just haven’t done it yet.

 I’ve heard too many mommas talk about just needing an hour, or a get-away with their husbands because it’s been years of focusing all on the kids. 

I’ve heard ministers speak about their exhaustion in ministry and need for refreshment. 

Parents who know they’re neglecting their health, but feel too stuck to change. 

I hear these confessions and hear a lot of them, friends, and as I was sitting this morning and thinking of those faces who do so much for others, but feel guilty to invest in themselves – be it a massage, or supplements to support their stressed body, or an hour in a morning for quiet moments – my heart just ached. 

I had 4 minutes left in my “personal study” time, so I opened up Hands Free Life and within a page, this stuck out to me. The author Rachel had painted a picture of a young bride whom she spied at a hair salon. The pained, overwhelmed look on this lady’s face brought her right back to her younger years and what she wishes she could tell her 27-year-old-self, as a 40-year-old-woman. 

You are going to feel a lot of pressure in your lifetime- pressure to do things at one-hundred-and-ten-percent performance level, pressure to look and act a certain way, pressure to be all things to all people. You’re going to think  that the pressure is coming at you from all directions, but in most cases, it’s not. That unrelenting pressure is going to come from one place: you. So do yourself a favor, dear one. Take the pressure off. Take the pressure off now- don’t wait until you’re forty. In fact, don’t wait another day. 

Ahhh. Do you feel that sigh in your soul? That longing to free yourself from the intense pressure? The ache to actually allow yourself to do the thing for YOU that you know your spirit and body need for refreshment? I bet the people who care about you would agree. 

I bet your best friend would say, “Yes! Do something for your health!” 

I bet your spouse would say, “Absolutely! When are we going on that adventure?”

Because they know your heart and have its best in mind, just like you’ve been having their best in mind for so long. 

A perk of not living in America is I get to watch her from a removed difference. I get to feel her racing pulse without living in the over stressed, run-down, exhausted, but I-can-do-more attitude. (Yes, I’m not utterly immune to her lure, nor do I claim perfection, friends. You know how broken and real I am!) Sure. I’m seeing a lot of her through emails, Facebook messages, and IG posts, but I see what you’re sharing, America. I hear your tired parts, your exhausted selves, your ragged bodies poorly fueled by Coke & cookies ( In my most stressed, self-imposed-pressure days, I lived on fast food & lean pockets & creamer-laden coffee!). And I just want to remind you – that you, my sweet and precious soul will do more for this world when you’re rested. You can serve longer, give deeper, make greater change when you’re fueled well, rested properly and when you’ve said NO to more. 

I don’t have the answer for your situation. Ok, I actually do. It’s called Jesus and rhymes with “Hod” because I have only found how to rest from believing the truths He’s said about me. What I mean, is I don’t know what your rest needs to be. 

But I know you need to release yourself from the pressure. It’ll feel really awful and awkward at first, but it’ll get so rich and full that you’ll look at yourself a year from now and wonder, “How in the heck was I living like that?” 

And until you do take that brave step, I’ll keep listening and holding your stories and praying for the courage for you to take the pressure off, dear one. Don’t wait until your forty or sixty. There’s a whole lot of life to be enjoyed.