Rhythm…
Greetings dear friends & welcome to my world again this week. In February, 1969 Erich Brenn appeared on the Ed Sullivan variety show. His claim to fame was “plate spinning”. His routine consisted of spinning five glass bowls on four foot long sticks. At the same time he would spin eight plates while he was spinning the bowls.

The idea was to keep everything spinning without letting anything crash to the ground. Just as a bowl began to wobble & look as if it would drop, Brenn would frantically run over to get it spinning again. Sound like the average week in your life? Well it often does for me.

Plate spinning has become a metaphor for how many of us live our lives. We frantically move through our week trying to keep all of the plates in our life from dropping. It can be daunting & exhausting.

In the past, when I would hear someone talk about living a life of “balance”, this is the picture which came to my mind. I pictured living life in such a way all the plates were spinning smoothly & nothing was crashing to the floor. 

A life of balance has always seemed like a “pipe dream”, something just not realistic or attainable. To be honest, sometimes I wonder if there has ever been a moment of balance in my entire life. I cannot think of many times when every area of my life was “spinning” smoothly. Life can be messy!

As you can probably tell, I do not rate the word “balance” highly. But I do like the word rhythm”.  Rhythm allows for busy seasons & unanticipated crisis. Rhythm has room to acknowledge life is not orderly & does not always go according to my plans.  [1]

I have been searching for a rhythm allowing me to live & lead from a healthy soul.
This rhythm I try to implement in my life, as much as humanly possible, is…
         Work                           ~             Rest
         Produce                    ~             Restore
         Go Hard                     ~             Stop
         Exert energy             ~             Replenish energy

Noah benShea writes, “It is the space between the notes which makes the music.” The same is true of life. We must have space (rhythm) between the notes to make life work.

We live in a universe defined by rhythm. As you read this sentence you are breathing in rhythm.  The average person inhales and exhales 15-16 times per minute. Your heart beats with a very predictable rhythm. When you get an ECG done, it is to measure the electrical rhythm of your heart. The tide comes in & goes out with a sense of rhythm. Farmers have a rhythm of planting, growing & harvesting.

Everything ever created needs rest & restoration. You & I my friends, are no exception.

If you violate this principle of rhythm long enough, you will pay a price. When you ignore a healthy rhythm of life, the results can be detrimental to your body, your soul, your relationships & your emotions. As you well know, there is always more to be done & needs to be done. The needs will always outpace your capacity. But you can choose a rhythm declaring even though there is still more to do, you can stop to rest & restore. 

Think about how much slower life was in those days of our parents & grandparents. The lack of technology & transportation as we know it today forced life to be slower. The lack of cars, planes, e-mail & smart phones made it easier to take your time. You, & I live in a very different world; we therefore must be even more intentional about a life of rhythm allowing for space & rest.

More & more we live in a world is open for business 24 hours a day. This is why deliberately choosing a healthy rhythm is crucial.

Too often in my life, I have tried to live as though I had no limits. Can I remind you, & myself today, we are NOT Superman or Wonder woman. We were made human. We have limited time, energy, capacity, & emotional reserve. We were given these limits as a gift to remind us we are in a rhythm allowing us to stop, rest, replenish & restore.

I hope my comments each week are helpful dear readers; & again, provide just an opinion, from my world. Thank you for taking the time to be with me, I hope my journey may encourage you also. This is Kenn Butler in Paradise, Nelson. With my best wishes for another week… I look forward to being with you all again soon.
 
 
 
 
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