GIVEN the fact that our life is
supposed to be a total
offering to God out of love for him and for everyone, we need to make
sure that we manage our work and rest so that we can go on completely
offering ourselves up the end of our life. We should avoid stopping
along the way out of tiredness or of being burned out.
We should make sure that we do not work and do so much
that we undermine our total self-giving. Even right in the Old
Testament we have already been warned about this:
“My son, do not busy yourself with many matters. If you
multiply activities you will not go unpunished, and if you pursue, you
will not overtake, and by fleeing you will not escape.” (Sirach 11,10)
I’ve always found this passage very enlightening and
helpful. It’s true that we have to attend to many things. In fact,
there are just too many of them that we can manage within the span of
24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But it does not mean that we just
mindlessly plunge ourselves into them without concern for our rest and
balance in life.
Doing so can be fatal to us, both to our body and even to
our soul. Let’s remember that we are a unity of body and soul, and
what affects one also affects the other. We need to manage our work
and rest, such that we neither overwork nor over-rest ourselves.
We have to be aware that when we work, we involve not only
the body but also the soul. We involve our physical organism together
with its emotional and psychological components. These are factors we
need to take into consideration in managing our work.
We should try not to over-exert ourselves when we work nor
to over-react to certain events, unless circumstances require it. In
fact, we should try to avoid getting over-excited even with the good
things that we are doing, because that would unfairly deplete our
energies at the expense of other activities we also need to do, and
lead us to stress and tension.
When, for example, we work hard and later find it hard to
pray or to carry out even the basic duties of family life, then we can
be sure that we are doing things wrongly. When we are active in the
office but dead at home, something is definitely wrong.
Nowadays, many are the possibilities of us getting so
carried away by our work or some other activities that we fall into
some form of obsession and addiction. In that state of mind, we cannot
think properly and our sense of priorities would go haywire.
A certain amount of detachment is always necessary to keep
some balance and stability in our life. That detachment will help us
manage our energies so that we can go the distance of our whole day
and of all our responsibilities in their proper priority.
In the end, what we need to do is to be with Christ
always, who said, “Come to me, all you that labor and are burdened,
and I will refresh you.” (Mt 11,28)
offering to God out of love for him and for everyone, we need to make
sure that we manage our work and rest so that we can go on completely
offering ourselves up the end of our life. We should avoid stopping
along the way out of tiredness or of being burned out.
We should make sure that we do not work and do so much
that we undermine our total self-giving. Even right in the Old
Testament we have already been warned about this:
“My son, do not busy yourself with many matters. If you
multiply activities you will not go unpunished, and if you pursue, you
will not overtake, and by fleeing you will not escape.” (Sirach 11,10)
I’ve always found this passage very enlightening and
helpful. It’s true that we have to attend to many things. In fact,
there are just too many of them that we can manage within the span of
24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But it does not mean that we just
mindlessly plunge ourselves into them without concern for our rest and
balance in life.
Doing so can be fatal to us, both to our body and even to
our soul. Let’s remember that we are a unity of body and soul, and
what affects one also affects the other. We need to manage our work
and rest, such that we neither overwork nor over-rest ourselves.
We have to be aware that when we work, we involve not only
the body but also the soul. We involve our physical organism together
with its emotional and psychological components. These are factors we
need to take into consideration in managing our work.
We should try not to over-exert ourselves when we work nor
to over-react to certain events, unless circumstances require it. In
fact, we should try to avoid getting over-excited even with the good
things that we are doing, because that would unfairly deplete our
energies at the expense of other activities we also need to do, and
lead us to stress and tension.
When, for example, we work hard and later find it hard to
pray or to carry out even the basic duties of family life, then we can
be sure that we are doing things wrongly. When we are active in the
office but dead at home, something is definitely wrong.
Nowadays, many are the possibilities of us getting so
carried away by our work or some other activities that we fall into
some form of obsession and addiction. In that state of mind, we cannot
think properly and our sense of priorities would go haywire.
A certain amount of detachment is always necessary to keep
some balance and stability in our life. That detachment will help us
manage our energies so that we can go the distance of our whole day
and of all our responsibilities in their proper priority.
In the end, what we need to do is to be with Christ
always, who said, “Come to me, all you that labor and are burdened,
and I will refresh you.” (Mt 11,28)
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