SIGNS OF NEGLECT!

Ever played 'Jenga'?  I remember playing it as a group exercise at some training once. When it was my turn to pull out a log, I felt so overwhelmed and cranky I had a strong urge to pull a log out without thought, bringing the whole tower down!  

My reaction really surprised me, and I felt it was a bit of a lightbulb moment.

What turns a normally enthusiastic team player into someone that wants to sabotage the whole activity?

"Don’t stare at me because I am dark—

    the sun has darkened my skin.

My brothers were angry with me;

    they forced me to care for their vineyards,

    so I couldn’t care for myself—my own vineyard."  (Song of Songs 1:6 NLT)

If someone could have seen past my good manners, and into my soul that day at Jenga, they would have seen my soul was 'dark'.  

I suspect a lot of our feelings of overwhelm and cranky come about because like the writer of this verse, we have been so busy caring for the affairs of others, we have neglected our own.  

When we begin to hear our inner voice scream, 'no!' while we are verbally saying, 'yes'.

    When we have to fight the urge to give up or to sabotage...

        When we stop caring about people we should care about ...

Then its time to ask ourselves the question, "Have I neglected my own vineyard?"

Could it be that we have neglected our own soul, our own health, our own family, our own home?  Are we so busy taking care of business for others that our own lives are in a state of neglect?

We've all heard about the brilliant plumber, whose own home has leaky taps or blocked drains!

I found myself feeling this sense of overwhelm, and it began to show up in feeling unwell.  I politely extracted myself from planned activities that day for rest and gave attention to my soul, my home and my family.

The result?  My soul lightened up a bit, my urge to hide from responsibilities eased, and feeling physically better!

We are told to work for six days and rest on the seventh.  That isn't just an old fashioned religious rule, it's great self-care.  Maybe we don't need that big holiday, that TV binge session, or whatever it is we run to or wish for.  

Maybe what we need to do is take that regular time off and take care of our own souls and our own business!

It is a posture of faith and humility as by the actions we are admitting, "I'm not God, I'm not indispensable, and the world will not end if I take a break and give some care to my own 'vineyard'.  

In that way, we can sustain a fruitful life, keep loving - and become much easier to live with!

Until next time, 

Love, Lynda x