You sense it. You feel it coming on. You try to sweep it away so you don’t have to think about it, but the more you try to do this the more it keeps showing up unannounced. You keep pushing, but you are just about pushed out. Your life on the hamster wheel is beginning to get a little old. You are at your breaking point. You are ready to throw up your hands and quit.

We’ve all been there. Most of us have been there numerous times in our life. It’s not a fun place to be. In fact, it can be a dangerous place. If the situation isn’t handled properly, then you can find yourself with more issues on your hands than you started out with.

God didn’t create us to work nonstop. He didn’t create us to never take time for ourself. He created us to find the space in our life for pouring back into us. Time to refuel and recharge. Time to make an investment into those things that are important to our emotional and mental wellbeing. Time spent relaxing and having fun.

We live in a culture that embraces a mindset that is opposite to this one. It’s all about working constantly at the expense of everything that is important to us. We’re taught to not pay attention to the warning signs of needing to step away for a breather. Just one more task. One more business deal. One more phone call, text, or email. Then we can take a break, but that break never comes. It turns into the next item of business on the agenda. The work is never done.

No one is going to do this for you. No one is going to take responsibility for your time away except you. If you don’t make the time for this, it won’t ever happen. There will always be something pressing and more important, but at this point you are more important. You are worth every bit of the time spent investing in you.

When you manage to pour into yourself, then you are making deposits into your work time once you head back into that place. Constantly giving out doesn’t allow the space to care for yourself. When you take the necessary time to work on you, then you will be better equipped to handle the challenges that come your way in the other parts of your life.

Love yourself enough to take time for you. God wants you to live an abundant life, and this is one of those ways. Seeing to it that you are taking care of you is vital. You aren’t meant to live a martyr lifestyle sacrificing the last part of who you are. Sometimes you must say no. Sometimes you must step back to be able to move forward. Sometimes you must be a priority. Stop feeling guilty for doing that which God has called you to do – caring for the one who cares for everyone else.

So what are those things that energize you? That refuel you? That allow you to unwind? They are different for each of us as God has created each of us uniquely different. Spend your time doing them so that you are ready to go for your second wind…your third wind…your fourth wind…and so on. You matter to God so that means that you should matter to you.

It’s time to walk away…to come apart…to sit awhile and rest. The investment is you, and the return is a better you. Don’t delay for today is the day.