I have a new discipline that I’m working on. This is a little embarrassing – but I don’t know how to relax without holding my phone or watching TV (usually at the same time). I love to scroll Instagram, I love to watch YouTube and I love to watch sitcoms!
Now. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with those things. But for me, I’ve come to realize that while those things aren’t wrong, they also aren’t restful.
I’m working on learning to rest sans phone and TV – not all the time – but I am setting aside time each week where I consciously set my phone down, turn off the TV and rest. Being a task-oriented person who always wants to complete all the tasks and do all the things, trust me when I say this is a work in progress.
Here are a few things I try to do during my period of rest:
- play the piano
- work on craft projects – simple ones, because sometimes crafting is stressful. Ha!
- yard work – simple things like sweeping the deck
- listen to preaching
- listen to gospel music
- read Scripture, especially Psalms
- color – I like to do this while listening to music. I found some beautiful Scripture prints that I pinned here and printed for free!
Once the weather warms up I’m sure I’ll add things like sitting on the deck or going for Sunday afternoon drives in the mountains.
The practice of rest goes along with my word from 2020 – listen. I’m intentionally turning down the noise of the world and replacing it with the peace that comes from things that remind me who God is.
This is hard work. It’s hard to set aside time where I know I’ll get nothing accomplished, but I’m finding that these periods of rest help me to have more energy and bandwidth to get things done the rest of the time!
The words of the hymn Take Time To Be Holy say it better than I can!
Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul,
Each thought and each motive beneath His control.
Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,
Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.
Do you struggle with media-free rest time? Or do you have a suggestion of a restful activity I can add to my list? Help me out! 🙂
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Come Home For Comfort 
I’m with you! Real rest is hard for me. I’m trying to go to bed earlier, get outside, read for pleasure and I have a list of projects that I think I’d enjoy doing around the house. I’m trying to put my phone down more so I’m not as tempted to scroll through social media when I sit down for a second.
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Yep! Being task oriented and list-checkers makes it hard to set those things aside and relax, doesn’t it?!
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Hi Whitney,
Yes, it is hard work to simply rest sometimes. I consciously put my phone into a cabinet in our entertainment center to keep it out of sight. While being at home with a little one, I’ve seen how even a little bit of phone usage affects us both (negatively), so I want to avoid that! Restful activities we enjoy together include listening to music, baking treats – and I also like flipping through cookbooks. PS. I love the words to that hymn. 🙂
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Good for you, Colleen! I have to admit, I don’t like my phone being out of sight. It’s very impressive that you can put yours away like that!
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I’m definitely trying to figure out what is restful and what is not. I love to listen to podcasts and clean. Word searches are nice too!
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Those are good ones! I think it’s good to realize that everyone has their own list of what is “restful.” Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks for reading!!
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Hi Whitney,
You’re not alone in this struggle. I have been feeling the same nudge of “put down your phone.” It’s definitely something I need to be more intentional about, and I think doing so will be restorative for me. Thank you for sharing.
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I think it’s probably something we could all benefit from, at least from time to time. ❤
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