Who Should Rest?

This blog is a continuation of the blog on “Taking Care of Myself.” (August 17, 2012)In that blog I had the illumination that there is a difference between “Me” and “I”; that “I” have to take care of “Me.”Today is a Sabbath, and the Jewish religion prescribes a day of rest. For Christians, it is Sunday. For Moslems, it is Friday. I do not know what it is for other religions, but I believe they all prescribe a day of rest.Rest for whom?Me?But as I said in that blog, there are multiple components that comprise that “Me”. That means that all those components have to rest. Not just my hands and feet from working or my head from processing information. How about my intestines? And my heart? And my emotions? All the components that comprise “ME”.For instance, I should give my “food processing machinery” a rest. That means I should fast one day a week. (It is not strange that one day a week of fasting and only drinking water is prescribed for good health.)It is not only my mind and body that should not be working non-stop. I should also give rest to my emotions: no problem solving one day a week, and any stress is prohibited.Obviously, I cannot give rest to my heart but I can help it from having to work hard which happens when I have emotional problems to deal with or when anxiety attacks take it over. (Hmmmm. Good idea not to exercise one day a week. To give my whole body a rest. The problem is that it is resting all week…) Relax one day a week. Nothing is that important that “I” cannot be free.Now who is this “I” who will be the focus of this day of rest? Who is the “I” as different from the components that comprise the “Me”?It is my spirit. By stopping mind, body and emotions from taking all the energy, the spirit can get all my attention. That is why all religion prescribe going to a house of prayer on that day. To integrate with something bigger, larger and absolute, something beyond oneself.If you are not a follower of institutional religion, what should you do? Have long meditations one day a week. Or go for a hike to experience nature in all its beauty. Rediscover God. Let yourself feel free to be part of something absolute and all-encompassing. Let your spirit be the focus of your existence one day a week. The rest of the week is for the other components of “Me”.What happens if you do not have that day “to find yourself, ” to relax the “Me”s and focus on “I”? Time flies and you will feel lost…All at once, you are old and wonder what happened, where did time fly? What happened to you? Who really are you?Sad but not hopeless.Wish all “YOUs” a periodic rest while alive . Do not wait till you are six feet under...Sincerely,Dr. Ichak Kalderon Adizes