Are you tired?

Are you tired? 

Climbing and hustling and working your way, clawing with your hands, pushing with your legs, straining your back, reaching, inhaling, heart racing, blood pumping? 

And what for? What is all this effort and energy you're expending for? What do you hope to achieve here? 

Yes, you have responsibilities; we all do. And yes, not all of them are things we enjoy doing - they need to be done, and we do them. And no, not all of us (not anyone really) get to follow our bliss for our vocation, work our dream job for money, pursue our curiosities and desires and sense of adventure and get paid for it. 

The system we exist within insists we work, that we engage and earn and spend to create the life we want, or perhaps the life we think we want (and right there, the ableism begins). And within this system and the structure that it creates within our lives, there are things we work hard for, things we strive for, things we reach for as if they're on the top shelf of the cupboard that is two feet too tall for us and no one is home to help, and all the chairs and stools have mysteriously gone missing…

Aren't you tired of reaching? 

Outside of our vocations and careers and what we do for money, are other things like family and friendship and faith communities and academic respect and sporting achievements and creative projects and hobbies and habits and things you just really like doing, or things you really want to do, or things you feel you must, so you squeeze them in and do your best and even then, 

what is it all for? 

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

Jesus said this to his friends, and he could just as easily be saying it to you…

are you burned out on religion? 

Remember, religion is anything that holds you together (We published a series in the App on this in January called 'Held Together') … it's like a ligament for your life, a structural entity that creates and holds the shape of your life together. Sport can be a religion, as could a faith tradition, a philosophy, a practice, a belief… it's a pathway you use frequently and metaphorically to get to where you think your life should/could/needs/wants to go.

But what exactly are you trying to achieve here? 

Sometimes these religions burn us out, make us tired, bring us to the end of ourselves, down a road that doesn't seem to go anywhere, and we find our hearts and souls in the middle of a non-voluntary deconstruction of the things that once held us together, of the things we thought would deliver us the life of our dreams. 

This is a series about why you do the things that you do, how to find healthy motivation, what the reward is for all your hard work, and how you can learn to enjoy your life even when it seems you haven't achieved much. There is no top; there is no pinnacle of success that you can achieve that will make everything worthwhile. The reward isn't heaven when you die, a mansion close to Jesus, a badge of holiness for you to wear proudly on your chest… 

The reward is here; you are that reward, your life and your love and how you integrate and collaborate with all the other lives and loves you encounter.

Consider this: Life isn't about achieving something; it's about experiencing everything that you encounter. When you allow yourself the grace of experience, achievement becomes something that happens rather than something you need to happen in order to find value. 

From my upcoming New Year’s series, "There Is No Top" this week with a subscription in the App.

Written by Liz Milani
Instagram: @thepracticeco