One of the most important features in my whole plan is the discipline of Sabbath. For me, I choose to take this Sabbath day on Sunday, but whether you take in on Sunday, Saturday, or some other day during the week, the important thing is to take it.
All discipline, whether mental, physical, spiritual, or practical, requires the juxtaposition of work vs. relaxation in order to have its greatest effectiveness. Intense weight training is based on the concept that you stress the muscles and then give them time to rebuild. Other forms of physical training (like running or swimming) require the same kind of stress vs. rest discipline. Even dieting experts suggest that regardless of how carefully you regulate your calories, your mental connection to the process requires that you give yourself some time off from the routine.
For me... that's Sunday, and Sunday is made up of resting, reading, playing, loafing, laughing, light running (maybe), some sort of spiritual discipline (meditation, prayer, church, or a walk in the woods).
The other thing I do with Sunday, at least as often as I can possibly get away with it (which is increasingly most of the time) is make it a day of Digital Fasting. I try to stay completely away from computers, text messaging, and any other forms of high-tech time wasting/spirit sucking as its possible to be. Occasionally, for one no good reason or another, I get dragged back in to the didigtal realm on my Sabbath, but the more I seek to maintain this discipline, the more easy I find it to be. And not only does this discipline give me a much needed respite from staring at my monitor and exacerbating my carpal tunnel syndrome, it also frees my mind and prepares me for the rest of the week.
Today, I succeeded at all of it. Basically, I was a slug.
But a happy slug... and now I'm ready for next week.
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