Category Archives: Leisure and Renewal

The Importance of Leisure

It is the unoccupied space which makes a room habitable, as it is our leisure hours which make life endurable.
— Lin Yutang

The real problem of your leisure is how to keep others from using it.
— Anonymous

You were intended not only to work, but to rest, laugh, play and have proper leisure and enjoyment. To develop an all-around personality you must have interest outside of your regular vocation that will serve to balance your business responsibilities.
— Grenville Kleiser

There can be no high civilization where there is not ample leisure.
— Henry Ward Beecher

Besides baseball, I’ve always been involved in leisure sports. I’ve always felt there is a great deal to be gained in playing them. It’s a great release. It’s fun. It’s exercise. It’s a good way to get away from stress. Everybody should have a release, something to clear the mind and a way to find a little enjoyment and peace.
— Yogi Berra

The Importance of the Sabbath

Leave a reply

God gave us the Sabbath to protect us from overload. He designed it as a day to restore us – spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically.
— Steve and Mary Farrar

The longer I live the more highly do I estimate the Christian Sabbath, and the more grateful do I feel to those who impress its importance on the community.
— Daniel Webster

On the Sabbath we do nothing to create our own way. We abstain from work, and our incessant need to produce and accomplish, from all the anxieties about how we can be successful in all that we have to do to get ahead. The result is that we let God be God in our lives.
— Marva Dawn

The Sabbath is God’s present to the working man, and one of its chief objects is to prolong his life. The savings bank of human existence is the weekly Sabbath.
— William Blaikie

The meaning of Sabbath is to celebrate time rather than space. Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time. It is a day on which we are called upon to share in what is eternal, to turn from the results of creation to the mystery of creation.
— Abraham Heschel

Renewal

Leave a reply

A small period of solitude each day is remarkably healing.
— Anonymous

Think about a treat that you haven’t had in a while – one so delicious that just thinking about it makes you smile. Today, don’t settle for any substitutes or next-best things. Take a vacation from all things practical, and go find exactly what you want.
— Suzanne Zoglio

Sleep is the best doctor.
— Yiddish proverb

If someone tells me, “I’m working 90 hours a week,” I say, “You’re doing something terribly wrong. I go skiing on the weekend. I go out with my buddies on Friday. You’ve got to do the same or you’ve got a bad deal. Put down a list of the things you’re doing that make you work 90 hours, and ten of them have to be nonsense, or else somebody else has got to do them for you.”
— Jack Welch

The Importance of Sleep

Leave a reply

Taking care of yourself physically really helps emotionally. People who get a lot of sleep, who do the things that relieve stress, can withstand a lot of stress.
— Laura Bush

The rest I get every evening and on days when I limit physical activity is just as important to my mental and physical health as exercise. Every night, I strive for at least eight hours of sleep to allow my body to reset from the day’s events and stresses.
— Dana Rader

Early to bed and early to rise,
Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
— Benjamin Franklin

When we rest at night we relax our muscles, but we also restore energy and balance to our nervous and immune systems. This recharging helps us to feel sharp and responsive, and allows us to problem-solve and retain our critical thinking and decision-making power. It also allows us to ward off illness and disease.
— Dr. Paul Donahue

A lot of men wear sleep deprivation as a badge of courage. What happens, though, is your judgment disappears and your perception is impaired. Three-Mile Island, Chernobyl and the Exxon Valdez are all examples of sleep-related accidents. To remain healthy and be at your peak, you need about 8 hours of sleep per day. Einstein slept 10 hours.
— Dr. Rubin Naiman

The Importance of Relaxation

Leave a reply

Rest, relaxation, play and reflection are vital to our overall well being. Taking a time-out means making an investment in yourself. The investment you make in yourself today will determine the quality of your life in the days and years to come.
— Joan Lunden

I try to keep my life in perspective, remembering to sit back and relax.
— Tiger Woods

Short periods of relaxation throughout the day can break tension and give your subconscious a chance to work. Read a magazine article; listen to a language tape; work on a crossword puzzle. This is not wasting time; it is keeping your mind in top condition through relaxation.
— Napoleon Hill

Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer, since to remain constantly at work will cause you to lose power of judgment. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller. More of it can be taken in at a glance, and a lack of harmony or proportion is more readily seen.
— Leonardo da Vinci

Time for Yourself

Leave a reply

Always leave enough time in your life to do something that makes you happy, satisfied, even joyous. That has more effect on economic well-being than any other single factor.
— Paul Hawken

If you find that you are overwhelmed with responsibility to the point of mild insanity, learn to give yourself a “time-out.”
— Joan Lunden

Don’t waste alone time. If for some odd reason, I find myself alone in our house, besides shouting “Whoo-hoo!” in my head, I resist the urge to do something productive. This is not the time to throw in a load of laundry or tidy up the house. Instead, I do something I can’t do when the kids or my husband are home.
— Laura Stack

True silence is the rest of the mind: it is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment.
— William Penn

A warm bath, massage or a little pampering can go a long way toward making the week’s tensions melt away. Listening to good music, eating sumptuous meals and relaxing with friends can also help restore balance amid the frenzy. These feel-good experiences can help sustain us in the long run.
— Dr. Paul Donahue

Relax with a Book

Leave a reply

Books make up no small part of human happiness.
— Frederick the Great

A taste for books is the pleasure and glory of my life. I would not exchange it for the riches of the Indies.
— Edward Gibbon

I would rather be a poor man in a garret with plenty of books than a king who did not love reading.
— Thomas Macaulay

A book is like a garden carried in a pocket.
— Chinese Proverb

The first time I read an excellent book, it is to me just as if I had gained a new friend. When I read over a book I have perused before, it resembles the meeting with an old friend.
— Oliver Goldsmith