I believe that the reason God rested on the seventh day was not because He was tired. I mean, He is God, He does not tire; the Bible says that many times. From my observations and personal experience, a person cannot function well or properly without rest. I don’t mean just sleeping, though it is very important. Another aspect of resting is doing an activity that helps you to relax. For me, this includes hiking, backpacking, swimming, stargazing, laying in my hammock, practicing my marksmanship and writing in my journal. For me, relaxing isn’t necessarily doing something that doesn’t require physical exertion. Oftentimes, my relaxing involves a great amount of that.

Hiking and backpacking relax me for a number of reasons. First is that it is physical exertion. Ever heard the phrase “go sweat it out” or something along those lines? Well, it's true. Exercise releases chemicals in your body which, among other things, help relieve stress. The second reason is where it takes you. Backpacking in itself is amazing because there is something wonderfully serene about sleeping in nature, away (for the most part) from civilization. It’s quiet, dark, and out there you will see the most stars you’ve ever seen in your life, it’s spectacular. Personally I love being in nature of God’s creation in the wilderness. I’ll explain the more important reasons why this relaxes me in my next article.

Swimming is a rather huge thing for me. I have been swimming for as long as I remember. My mother told me stories about starting my swimming lessons (baby-parent) when I was six months old. Since then, I have been swimming for over twenty years now. It’s a weird bit of sentiment, but when I am swimming in water, I just wish I had gills. It’s hard to explain, but I love being in water. The motion of swimming is so fluid and graceful. I like the feeling of swimming. Honestly, I don’t really know how to explain exactly why I do, just that I do and that it relaxes me.

I love hanging my hammock when I hike or backpack. It’s physically relaxing for me because it almost feels as though I’m floating in space. That combined with the rocking motion and a book instantly calm me. I can sit in my hammock for hours (not necessarily sleeping) and get as much rest as if I had been sleeping. For me, it is the perfect combination with backpacking and stargazing. Especially after hiking for a while, it is really nice to sit back and rest.

Those are some of the more physical things that I do to relax, which I try to do as often as possible. Sometimes it is once a month, sometimes a couple times a week, it all depends on my schedule. There is, however, one more essential aspect to relaxing. To truly relax you must schedule time where you know nothing will bother you. For example, when I go camping or backpacking, I intentionally schedule enough time where I know I will not be bugged or worry about what I have to do, along with going to places where there is no cell reception, or if there is, put my phone on airplane mode.

This is very important because if you are constantly worrying about things that you need to do then you cannot truly relax. This is why I believe people’s way of relaxing varies so greatly. Yes, it is also about what people do to relax, but it's also an aspect of relaxation. Cutting yourself off from the world for a time so that you can recharge. That is why God rested on the seventh day, not to rest, but to show us that we, His creations, need to rest. God does this quite often, using Himself as an example for us. I’ll touch on that in other articles, but for now, I’ll see you next week.