How do you stay encouraged? Part 3: Body

I'm finally to the last installment of how we stay encouraged on the field. Really, these things will work for anyone anywhere, but some of them have become more important to me over here. I enjoyed them in the States, but I've truly become grateful for them during our time on the field.

It's important that we take care of our bodies. There's no easy way around it; I just have to say it bluntly. This is a hard one for me. Physical exercise and eating right has never been that high on my list of priorities, but as I get older, live under greater amounts of stress, and grow deeper in my relationship, I realize that God gave me only one body for this earth.

So, what can we do to take care of ourselves physically, and will it help us stay encouraged? I think it will help us and those we work with and minister to.

Exercise:  Thirty minutes of exercise several times a week has helped me. I haven't always been consistent with this, but when I do I feel better. When we had been on the field about a year, I decided it was time to take get serious and worked myself up to eight miles per day--four in the morning and four in the evening. Then I hurt my back and we unable to do that for a long time (probably because I didn't understand the importance of actually resting my back well before going back to normal). Even though I have walked in the evenings when our schedule has allowed, you're much more likely to find me swimming and exercising in the pool.

But how does this help with encouragement? Exercise helps with stress; we can better control negative feelings when we're active. It can improve our attention and can result in improved memory, and it may make us able to be more creative.

Something that I also want to point out is for me personally, I started to feel that I had an obligation of sorts to the people I was around to exercise. When you think of the benefits of exercise, they aren't only personal benefits. Sure you're the one who has fewer negative feelings and more control over them, but that will also affect your relationships with others. The more you're able to deal with your own stress, the less others will have to deal with your negativity.

Good quality food: There are definite benefits of living in a foreign country, and one of them is a lack of processed food. This is more difficult for time management, but it's better for our physical bodies! Convenience foods are often packed with too much salt, sugar, and preservatives. I'm sure there are other bad things in there as well! But if I have to use more fresh vegetables and fewer processed items, I'm sure my body will thank me for it!

There's a balance here though. If there are times we want to go to Burger King, we do it. The balance for me comes in when I stop saying to myself that I deserve Burger King because I've given up so much to be here. That's a dangerous path to start down and an unhealthy one! In moderation, however, I enjoy the trip out.

And lastly for good quality food, I drink my water. I'm not always faithful to get my full amount, but I don't purposefully try to avoid it. I have seriously cut down on soda, and I now take my coffee with just milk. When I first started drinking it, I liked my sugar and cream with a little coffee. Now I like my coffee with a little milk.
Rest: The idea of taking a sabbath rest is somewhat controversial, but I believe our bodies need times of rest and relaxation. Whether you want to call it a sabbath or avoid that term because you think it's legalistic, we need refreshing times. I'm not for making it a certain day in order to follow some religious mandate, but I am for having a consistent time of rest. 

These special times can include what gives you rest and refreshes your body. At times it may be some extra sleep, and at other times it may be laughing. It should be times for reflecting on God, who he is, what he's doing, and gratitude for all of it. It could be taking nature walks, doing some of your favorite activities as a family, or getting something finished that's been hanging over your head. I would suggest doing that last one sparingly as we all have a tendency to easily start things that turn into habits which leads us back to not having a day of rest once again. I definitely think getting some sunshine on your days of rest will provide some rejuvenating vitamin D. And lastly, dare I say it? Turn off the email and social media. These days people go out to eat and spend the time looking at their phones. We get together and watch movies, and we feel that we have to be looking at our phones as well. I'm all for multi-tasking while we're watching movies, but looking at more media seems like overkill. I think this will be one of my goals to change.

I suggest using one day per week for this. We need time to get our focus back on what is important, reconnect with family and friends, and rejuvenate our physical bodies. It's amazing how many of the benefits we get from exercise we can also get from a day of rest. Our minds and bodies weren't meant to always be multi-tasking and working 24/7.

We try to go away at least once a year. Right now it's been a year since we've been off by ourselves. We haven't had as much "freedom" this year since Pawn is no longer living here and Faa is, but we will take the next opportunity we get!

The last time we went away we had a comfy bed, a dark room, and a working air-conditioner. We didn't worry about getting up in time for the free breakfast, and we used our two nights away to relax and rest. The only thing that's difficult when we get away is finding food, but we can always improve!

We try to stay at the same hotel because the landscaping is also relaxing. The swimming pool is in the middle with beautiful gardens along the paths. It's a bit of paradise in the city--our own personal oasis.

Wow! Writing this post wast difficult, but I needed the reminder. This year has been crazy, and I can tell it's the physical part that I've neglected the most. So I need to reflect on areas that I'm struggling in and make changes. Who's with me?