Spending time today running and writing. As I am wrapping up both, I am contemplating that this is Easter Weekend. I am encouraged to think of turning old to new, rebuilding what was lost, refreshing what might have lost its luster and finding growth where there is now decay.
A refresh means to provide new strength, new energy in the form of action as the word is indeed a verb. You do not get a refresh, you engage in an act of refresh. A computer monitor might refresh (in the old CRT days), and that was a noun. Something that would just happen. I have yet to find anything in my life that automatically refreshes, have you? Absolutely nothing in my life will refresh itself. Everything from the out of date filter in my refrigerator, to the few extra pounds that I gained during the winter. Yes, a refresh is definitely something that you do.
When you refresh yourself, you experience a renewal, a revival if you will. Like Jesus raising the leper from the side of the Pool of Bethesda, you can walk again, see again, and find the path once more. A refreshed person is a person that has been cleaned, invigorated in a new and exciting way. It is interesting how certain activities can provide this feeling of refreshment. A long nap, a long shower, or simply brushing your teeth. All of which require action, in order for the feelings of refreshment to occur.
I have, therefore, come to the opinion that you have to plan out and prescribe into your life actions that bring refreshment to yourself, your daily life, your routine. If you do not, then what will happen is that your life will slowly go into disrepair. You can be really strong , have a lot going for you, then slowly over time, things will get complex and messy. Anxiety and other stress will creep in and you will find that what was once a strength is now a weakness. You must as a matter of practice find a way to introduce new strength, a new source of healing and encouragement even to the things in your life that you are strongest in.
Relationships are a good example, of an element in your life that needs constant refreshment. An invigoration now and then. If you expect the great relationship to maintain for a long period of time without having this infusion on occasion then it will slowly start to crack at the seems. Having a relationship with someone is a bit like owning a boat that is harbored on the ocean. You absolutely have to do the regular maintenance, but you also have to do something major now and then. For example, providing a solid coating of wax to the exterior, or painting the bottom, or performing maintenance to the hull and engine compartment. If you do not, then even if you are doing regular maintenance, the deterioration of the ocean will catch up on you and something major will happen. Maybe finding your boat at the bottom of the marina one morning!
Relationships have strain on them all the time. Challenges that arise, pressure that pull you apart. You must do the maintenance things like spend time together, talk openly, etc. However, you also have to do major things to cause a refresh to occur. A significant event that forces you to spend a lot of time together, something unique and special you do for the other person, a sacrifice you make in order to really help the other person. All of these are things you might consider to perform a refresh, a re-invigoration, or renewal. If you do not, then you will wake up one day and find the relationship is completely gone and potentially irrevocably lost.
Anything important to you, needs refresh. This includes relationships, finances, health, career skills, and other areas vital to you in some way. I have learned that you must dedicate time to planning how you will accomplish that refresh, because, you will never see one of these areas automatically refresh themselves.
Guy Reams
refreshing to read!