Recovery is not a concept we are taught in school. Having energy, curiosity, drive and stamina are indirectly taught to us at a young age. Pushing ourselves further is the focus. Never do we spend time figuring out how to sustain that energy over a lifetime.
It’s only later in life, when we come face to face with recovery do we begin to understand its necessity. Especially after a medical procedure or surgery. Forced upon us, there is nothing to do but “go through it”. Never sure how long it will take, we wake up hoping today is the day I feel better.
While recovery is necessary after a health related shock to the body, it needs to play a more significant role in our daily lives. Recovery is the key to having more energy, curiosity, drive and stamina. Recovery is basic to the renewal of our physical lives all the way down to the cellular level. If you studied biochemistry, you would learn about the Krebs cycle and how our energy flows in cellular metabiolism from ATP to AMP and then back again.
Sleep is now being emphasized as important. Why? Because it is a way for our body to recover from a busy day. We all participate, but many of us never are able to get enough sleep for it to help us fully recover for the next day.
Laughter is a different form of recovery. Why? Because it breaks the tension that has us confined in our lives. The seriousness of our situation is lifted from us for a brief second.
Vacation is yet a different form of recovery. How? By forcing us into a new environment for a few days giving us the opportunity to break our routine and forget about all that is packed into the routine of our daily lives.
Meditation & prayer are other forms of recovery. By filling our being with quiet, hope, and reflection. By conciously blocking out the world to give us the opportunity to better see ourselves.
Hobbies can provide us with recovery. Giving us the opportunity to work on something that we both enjoy and are good at within our own pace. Shutting out all of our frustrations around us with no deadlines or expectations that we cannot control.
When I was younger I believed that lists and time management were the keys to high output. As I have aged, I now believe that good recovery habits can provide much more daily fuel to push us towards the high output needed to realize our dreams.