Thoughts on Recharging
I'm about to embark on a holiday. For the next three weeks, I will be off with my hubby and a group of friends enjoying what I anticipate to be a trip of a lifetime. There will be multiple flights to reach our destination (South Africa). Once there, there will be visits to historic sights, activities like kayaking and walking, winery tours, shopping and -- of course -- several days "in the bush" essentially on safari. I am so looking forward to this.
Truthfully, it's been a long while -- like, several decades -- since I've taken a holiday of this length, at this distance. While I have had vacations, they're usually 7 - 10 days at most. Sabbaticals have been about a month, but those haven't had the "getaway feel" that this upcoming adventure carries with it. And while I'm definitely looking forward to the getaway, I'm also aware that this time away carries with it the possibility of an intentional recharge.
I've written about recharging previously, but in light of where I'm at right now, I'm feeling called to repeat some of those thoughts and re-share them, as it were. So here's what I want to emphasize:
Generally speaking, holidays give many folks the excuse they need to take time “away from work”. They provide opportunity (if you choose to avail yourself of the chance) to recharge. Recharging is a great thing; and, my perspective is that recharging needs much more time than what is available to us during standard holidays. There’s a way that, as humans, we actually need to be much more deliberate and consistent when it comes to recharging. (I'm totally aware that I am sharing this wisdom even as I recognize that I've slipped off the wagon a bit when it comes to being consistently deliberate about recharging in recent months).
In a world that has gotten incredibly fast-paced, electronically connected, and the lines between professional and personal time have blurred for many, being conscious about the act of recharging isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity. Recharging requires more than “oh, it’s _______ day, I can shut down for a minute.”
Trust me; everyone needs more recharge time than a minute.
We need more than day.
I dare say many of us need more than a week, even.
Recharge time cannot be scattered haphazardly throughout the year. It cannot be hit or miss, it cannot be something that happens without intention. Recharge time must be a conscious choice, something carved out for ourselves meaningfully, regularly and frequently.
Admittedly, everyone has got a different threshold for when and how recharging happens. There isn’t a cookie-cutter approach to recharging that serves human beings well. That being said, here’s what I know and would like to offer you:
Recharging takes more time than you think; so give yourself more time.
Recharging needs to happen at least daily, to some degree (this might look like screen-free time, reading, meditating, walking).
Recharging needn’t be for long periods; it does need to be engaged in intentionally.
Recharging can look like 15 minutes every couple of hours, an hour every night, a 24-hour block every week – whatever matches your internal rhythm.
Recharging can also look like a blend of all of the above.
Whatever you choose, what I know is that in order for you to recharge yourself meaningfully, you’ve got to be as deliberate and consistent about it as charging your mobile phone, your laptop, your computer – whatever. You wouldn’t let your phone battery drain to completely empty before recharging – so don’t do that to your human body and mind.
Bottom-line: it’s time to get intentional about your recharge-time. Make it conscious, make it consistent, make it real. As you allow yourself to be more intentional about how and when recharging works for you, I guarantee that your entire being will notice a positive difference. One day you’ll look back at life B.I.C. “before intentional recharging) and wonder what took you so long to catch the recharge wave.