Today a wonderful and timely post from Jaime Hlavin on a most important subject . . . filling our emotional tank. The past twelve months have drained the emotional reserves of many humans. Jaime provides practical thoughts and behaviors that help us fill our tank and keep it filled. Enjoy ~ John.

Before I sat down to write this blog post, I took a nap. The few days leading up to it were very busy and contained a lot of complicated situations. I was nearing emotional depletion and needed to refuel. That nap made a huge difference for my energy level, attitude, and ability to focus creatively.

Years ago, I felt guilty about napping. It had been my experience that any time I mentioned needing one or partook of one, eyes would roll and condescending comments would be made: “Must be nice to have all that extra time on your hands.” “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”

I became conditioned to believe that something which could help me refuel emotionally was shameful and needed to be avoided. I began to believe rest was a luxury that the hard-working could not afford.

Knowing the rhythms of refueling emotionally is crucial in maintaining good mental health. We have committed the month of February to helping you get and stay emotionally and mentally healthy. Today’s post will give you some tips to help in an area that can be overlooked in today’s hustle-focused society: Filling your emotional tank.

When it comes to running our God-given race, it’s important to remember three things:

1) You can’t give what you don’t have – if you’re running on fumes, it’s difficult to have compassion for people.

2) You are an emotional being—like it or not.

3) You must pay attention to those emotions.

When we are depleted, our emotions can grow out of proportion and become larger than life. Heading that off before it happens can be accomplished by implementing an intentionally focused plan. One part of that plan is paying close attention to our pace. In John’s book, Unshakable You: 5 Choices of Emotionally Healthy People, an entire chapter is dedicated to emotional refueling. He lays out several behaviors that serve to fill our tanks. Today I want to focus for a moment on just one of those behaviors . . . rest.

In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28 NIV).  If Jesus talked about rest, then I know it must be important. A society focused on striving, succeeding, and getting ahead tries to tell me otherwise. Paying attention to my pace and emotional “tank levels” means accepting the reality that a healthy, sensible work/rest lifestyle is Biblical, and more efficient than running till I collapse.

Sensible scheduling is key. My suggestion isn’t to replace a packed calendar with an empty one (that’s laziness and the Bible has a lot to say about that as well!)

In his book, Leading on Empty, Wayne Cordeiro states “When we rest, God continues His work.” There is freedom in this statement. As leaders we tend to believe when we take a break, God’s work stops—or when we are asleep, God nods off, too. That’s simply untrue. God created us to function with rest incorporated into our lives. All throughout the Bible, God wove in the concept of rest—I.e.—Sabbath—so that His people can run the race He’s called them to, while staying emotionally fueled and mentally healthy at the same time.

So, when you’re done reading this, go ahead and take that nap you’ve been needing. It’s Biblical.

Here at Converge Coaching, we want you to get and stay emotionally healthy. If you need more help doing so, please feel free to contact us. And for further reading, there’s still time to pick up Unshakable You: Five Choices of Emotionally Healthy People at a 40% discount. The offer is good through February 28.

Rooting and praying for you to run on a full tank,

Jaime