Are You Tired?

Are you tired? Not even so much physically as tired in your soul? Tired on a level sleep can't remedy. Tired on a level that no remedy seems to touch?

There might be a reason.

When I run I get tired. Some might get tired faster than I will while most can probably run further. It’s all based on fitness levels but fatigue is inevitable. It does not matter what colour you are on the "black/white" spectrum. It doesn't matter your nationality, gender, religious views, political views, language or any of the other myriad ways we classify humanity. If we run we will get tired. It's a natural law that can't be changed.

There are many natural laws that transcend our apparent differences. Broken bones hurt physically. Broken relationships hurt emotionally. Lack of food causes hunger. Lack of water or other hydrating fluids leads to dehydration. None of these realities are negotiable. They just are.

Many years age I came across this chart. It shows all the major religions of the world and boils their belief systems down to one common denominator - the golden rule. "Do to others as you would want them to do to you." It is a universal ideal but it isn't a natural law. Natural laws can't be broken. Ideals can be. Sometimes you can be as nice as possible and the other person will still treat you badly. That's because there is something wrong in them, rather than something wrong with you.

I went skiing this week and caught an edge. I found myself on the ground. Gravity is also a natural law.

I'm not sure if you have noticed but in the last 20ish years fitness facilities, health plans, diets, food quality, everything associated with what we put in our bodies, and how much we move our bodies have skyrocketed. Why? Because we're getting fatter and more unhealthy. Health is a natural law. The ill effects of poor health choices are unchangeable. If you consistently eat and live in an unhealthy way you will become unhealthy regardless of who you are.

Now consider this: If physical health is a natural law what about mental health? A friend of a friend said recently that mental health is the new frontier. She is right, at least in North America. In the United States mental health issues are on the rise. Fully one half of the population suffers from mental health issues at some point in their lives. That is double the global average. Some say that's because the United States has a better reporting/tracking/health system for measuring mental health. However no one would argue that their system is better than Europe yet they only have half the occurrence of mental health problems. The question is why?

Now we're getting close to the possible answer for why you might be so tired on a level sleep can't fix. If our bodies are designed for good food and proper exercise our mental health is likely only optimum with the proper inputs and maintenance as well. If we live contrary to those natural laws our mental health will suffer. What are those natural laws?

There are many but for this first issue of ‘Perspectives’ I am only going to propose one: meaningful rest.

The Jewish nation had a rest day every week. In addition they had a series of national rest days tied to specific positive celebrations. Three of those celebrations were each 8 days long. In total they had 80 days of meaningful rest every year. 80 days when the entire community rested from their usual work and celebrated together. These celebrations had countless positive benefits for mental health.

What I am proposing is that we need to not only have regular rest but meaningful rest/celebrations of the positive things that make us who we are as individuals and as a community. As a Seventh-day Adventist I have enjoyed 52 meaningful rest days a year beyond both statutory holidays and vacation time. Our church members have been studied by researchers all over the globe. You can read about it here:

 http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/02/the-lovely-hill-where-people-live-longer-and-happier/272798/

The results? We are not only physically healthier with a longer lifespan than the average but we also have better mental health and greater happiness. Personally the last two years have included major mental health hits for me. We have moved over 6000km from what has been our home for the past 15 years and my wife’s home province. My 5 year old nephew was killed in a tragic accident in our back yard last May. My church has been struggling through some deep scandal and pain. My mental health could be compromised but it hasn’t been.

Here are some other stats to support this perspective. In France and the UK employers are required to give their employees 6 weeks of vacation per year. The United States? None.

In fact the two nations in the world who have the least amount of rest time have the highest rates of mental health issues and their suicide rates among first world nations are also high: The United States and Japan.

Why? Because meaningful rest is a natural law. It's not necessary because the Jews said so or because the Bible advocates for it. It's true because it is as unchangeable as gravity. If you don't adhere to this natural law you will suffer and no argument can change it nor can exceptions be made. It is what is. You might be tired because you have lost your joy. Maybe you aren't regularly pausing to celebrate the richness of your life. Perhaps you've lost all sense of meaning. Perhaps you have forgotten your Source. You were designed for meaningful rest. Breaking that law has unavoidable consequences.