Finding Balance on Labor Day

Our heritage has been forged by the sweat, pain, and achievements of hard working, every day people. 

In 1882, Labor Day was created to celebrate the American worker and their contribution to our great country. What's a better way to honor someone than with a day off to enjoy life?

In the Jamestown gift shop, I found this quote by Captain John Smith.

Is it even possible for us to imagine how difficult it was to merely survive back in those days? I bet those hearty settlers couldn't have envisioned how our country would evolve with so many incredible changes and the luxuries of today.

Paul tells us in 2 Thessalonians 3:10, "For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." Maybe Capt. Smith borrowed his quote from  the New Testament apostle.

For most of us, hard work comes easy. Maybe too easy.

Paul and Capt. Smith wouldn't have a problem with my work ethic.

I'm an accomplished do-er. And a lousy be-er. Not the golden liquid kind but the "lay back and enjoy life" kind.

I live by list. Written ones and mental ones. 

I'm always working on something or thinking of ten things I want to accomplish. So rarely am I pleased at the end of the day with how much got done. And I never feel like the list gets shorter, actually it often seems to sprout new items like pesky weeds in a flower bed. (Which by the way, is on my mental list- pull weeds).  

How do we over-achievers stop this "hamster wheel" way of life? And should we even try?

Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 11-12, "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody."

I believe Paul is talking about balance here.

Finding balance between work and play. Between dashing about and sitting still. Between chaos and tranquility. Between busy-ness and still-ness. Between doing and being.

A balanced life not only makes us more fulfilled individuals, but also produces a witness for the world. A double blessing.  

New self-renovation project—work on balance. 

This isn't the first time I started this transition from do-er to be-er. Time to make a plan. Oh, wait. Maybe I should enjoy Labor Day as it was intended and just be, for a change. 

Won't be easy, but so necessary.

How's your balance? What's helps you maintain a balanced life? Please share.

Living the Garden Life, Tammy Van Gils plants words and sprouts insightful stories blooming with hope. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers. She's honored to be a guest blogger and a contributor to The Wonders of Nature Devotion Book, (Dec 2016) and So God Made a Dog: 90 Devotions for Dog People (July 2017) Worthy Inspired.