We are, without exception, worn by the various challenges that are ever present in the course of our lives. Those challenges come from within and without. They originate in our own deficiencies as individuals, and they come from the inevitable bruising of lives lived in the real world where things don’t always pan out according to our untested idealisms.
Beyond our desire to rise to every circumstance lies that bothersome reality that we are in fact breakable. We eventually discover, much to our chagrin, that we are vulnerable to the battering that comes our way in the course of the many transactions that we engage and that engage us. It therefore behooves us to periodically pause, and take stock of our need for repair.
Some Indicators of Our Wear and Tear…
That nagging headache. A developing tendency to snap at everyone about everything. The repeated collisions of our feet and our other body parts with objects that more and more seem to be “in the way”. An inability to focus. Our creeping hypertension. The inability to summon the energy we need to get going at the start of our day. The fact that rest does not come when we lay down to sleep. The unwelcome observation that we are becoming more and more absent in our most intimate relationships. The deficit of joy that many around us now notice, and that we can feel in ourselves.
These are but a few of the indicators that become present in our lives when we are operating on the ragged edges of the wear and tear that is a natural part of being. And while it is natural that living will take its toll on us, continuing to operate in a state of disrepair should never become the norm… as so often it does.
Ignoring the need for personal repair can have disastrous consequences.
In the face of the many demands of life, there are times when we are required to pay attention to the signs and symptoms of developing dysfunctions in ourselves. These dysfunctions have physical, intellectual, and spiritual manifestations. They adversely affect our ability to get up and go. They present as distortions in judgment that render us unable to think straight about the most basic problems we face. Left unattended they cause us to fail in all the relationships essential to maintaining balance and to achieving the success we desire in our world.
To head off the very real breakdown that can result from being worn out, we must heed the squeaky noises coming from our own internal commotion. There comes a season to retreat from the ever-present demands of our lives that eventually wear us down. There comes a time to reflect on our approach to things, and the results we have been harvesting for ourselves and in our relationships. These are prerequisite steps which must be taken if we are to renew ourselves in ways that will lead to the kind of revitalization that impacts positively on every aspect of our being in the world.
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