Self-Maintenance: Take a Break!

This edition of the BEAM Newsletter is symbolically late.

As a business, timeliness is imperative to profit. Tardiness loses money, customers, and opportunities. However, businesses are made up of people. People are imperfect, living beings with callings greater than their job. Machines are nice because they make people more efficient, but people themselves are not machines; they cannot run indefinitely. To maintain efficiency within a company, it’s workforce must be equipped to do their job well and be given the ability to administer to their callings: One such calling is self-maintenance. A good diet, physical activity, rest, sleep, a few hobbies, and long-term goals are all assets that are needed to take care of oneself.
Let’s take a look at rest.

Rest is good for you like sleep is good for you. Yes, sleep and rest are different. Sleep is the body’s chance to repair itself from the activity of the day. Rest is an exercise in peace an tranquility; something that requires a conscious mind. People often equate rest with taking a vacation. The problem is people cannot store up rest in lump sums like camels store up energy in the fat in their humps. People need to be able to rest in regularity. Because people have this habit of making life more complicated than it needs to be, we need to make it a habit to balance out this complexity with the simplicity of being still.

So how do you do this thing: being still? Yes, being still can be somewhat foreign, but it is totally within the capacities of anyone reading this newsletter. Set aside two percent of your week by spending 15-20 minutes every day at peace. Do not move around, do not talk, do not read, do not eat, do not use anything digital, do not plan what you’ll do next when you’re done sitting idle because you are not sitting idle; you are resting. Your environment need not also be tranquil; you can rest nearly anywhere: Outside in your yard, on your roof, on a beach, next to a fire, at a coffee shop, at a water-park, at a mall, on a plane, or even in your living room. You may include your beverage of choice and perhaps some close company, but be sure to be still.

What does this accomplish? No, it’s not “nothing”; don’t be absurd. Stillness is not nothingness; stillness is peace. Stress is the shackles the world tries to bind us in. Resting is a rejection of those chains. The mind cannot grow without a chance to do so and keeping it constantly busy can do more harm than good without rest. When being still, you will notice things that went unnoticed. In it’s search for stimulus, your mind will amplify your senses. Eventually, your environment or your subconscious will clue you in to connections about things you had learned, but not fully understood. In rest, there is peace: through peace, there is understanding; through understanding, there is knowledge: through knowledge, there is power; through power, there is freedom; and through freedom, there is peace.

After your 15-20 minute rest, resume your day. After all, there is so much to do and so little time to do it. You ought to feel clear and attuned to your surroundings at the end of your rest. This will help you make better decisions, perform more efficiently, and feel better about it all. Others will notice and reap the benefits of your rest as well, including your employer. The moral is: if you want to get ahead, work hard, but don’t forget to take a break!

On behalf of everyone at Behny Entertainment, Arts, & Media,

Thank you for your support!

PS. Today marks two months for our active website. YAY!