Your Pastoral Coach

Remember to Replenish

I had an interesting conversation with one of my coaching clients this week. She was emotionally and physically spent. She had nothing to give anyone or herself. She had just finished a big project for the company that went extremely well, but was emotionally and mentally taxing. I asked her what were her plans to replenish her energy, to re-energize and reconnect. She looked at me as if i was from Mars. "That sounds so selfish. I can't do that. I need to take care of others." This let to a very deep and interesting conversation. Memories of walking in the woods brought tears to her eyes.

I think we allow ourselves to get to the point that we are too tired to know we are too tired. Every now and then we need to invest in ourselves or we won't have anything to give anyone and we will get sick. I'm not talking about sitting to read a book or taking a nap. I mean something that would really increase our peace, joy, and focus. For me is a retreat in solitude, which I take three or so weekends a year. My wife is usually the barometer. She knows when I really needed it. The other thing is to spend a week by the beach. I wish all of you opportunities to re-connect with God, nature, and yourself...

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Sleeping for Health

How many of us associate getting a good night's sleep with good health? We focus on eating right, avoiding junk food and sweets, doing aerobic exercise, lifting weights, yoga, pilates, etc. But do we sleep enough? I for one do not. I sleep about six hours a day. The minimum recommendation is eight hours a day. My issue is that I'm a night owl. I am the most focused and productive between 9 PM and 1 AM. This is when I can produce the most. However, work and family responsibilities demand that I get up early. My wife and I talked this week about making the commitment to go to bed on time. 71% of all adults do not get enough sleep, with detrimental results.