Rejuvenation – our lives revolve so much around this process, but what exactly is it? Rejuvenation is defined as “the action or process of giving new energy or vigor to something.” This process is undergone every day and in many ways. Things go through this process to make their interior and exterior look brand new again; however, not only materialistic things undergo rejuvenation. Humans go through the rejuvenation process as well, but unfortunately only on the outside and very seldom on the inside.
After an incredible amount of use, it is only natural that things begin to deteriorate. Once those that are extremely valuable to us become old and torn, they are sent to professionals who breathe new life into them. It is the same with humans, whose beauty starts to fade with time. As kids, we were told to eat this or apply that to maintain our beauty for as long as possible. We listened and obeyed. Nobody wanted to be in their 20’s and be mistaken for a 50-year-old just because their skin had wrinkled, and their forehead lines looked deeper. We were and still are so eager to keep our beauty intact for long, so much so that we even risk injecting our faces and different parts of our bodies with chemicals without knowledge of how they could damage us. So many procedures and skincare products exist with which we can rejuvenate our skin or our outer beauty, but have we ever tried to rejuvenate our soul and mind?
We live such a fast-paced life these days that we hardly ever think about how much damage we are causing to our inside. To the part of ourselves that no doctor or machine can sort out. To our soul and mind. Everyone is in such a rush to make money, to be a part of this ‘rat race’ and come out first that we sacrifice every ounce of our souls just to do it. Every day we work long hours and burn ourselves out running from pillar to post to get a job done. I once read a very interesting post which said something to the effect that we give our whole life away, our body and soul, for someone who would not think about it for a second if we left the world today. It hit me how incredibly true that was.
We go for spa days and beauty days to rejuvenate our appearance but how often do we take a weekend off from our busy schedules to spend time with our families, our friends, and with ourselves? When last did we go for a holiday to do nothing but relax, and not take any phone calls from work or fill out any forms or do anything related to our job? We give up our soul and mind for things of this world hoping that those material items can help give us the peace we need. It can never happen. We have traded our souls and minds just so we can be first in this ‘rat race’ that will not matter if we drop dead today.
We work all day long and come home feeling exhausted and unfulfilled, and we wonder why that is. We work to afford all the luxuries in the world. We spend so much money trying to beautify and rejuvenate our outside but never the inside. Yes, we need to work, but do we really need to give our all to our jobs? Do we need to give so much that when we come home, we are so upset, tired, mad, or stressed that we cannot have normal conversations with the ones we love? How often do we have proper meals with our families? Where we sit and talk about our day, where nobody rushes to finish their food. Gone are the days when laughter filled every house all the time. Nowadays there seems to be no light or laughter, just darkness and quiet.
The soul and mind work to keep us sane. Just like a car needs occasional servicing, our soul and mind need rejuvenation, even if occasionally. A healthy mind is a healthy body. Hence it is important that we take some time off our busy schedules, at least once a week to reconnect with our friends, our family, and ourselves. Let’s not forget that the body is a shell that is controlled by our minds and souls, and if they were to deteriorate, what good would this shell be to us? Focusing solely on rejuvenating our body is like a person who only focuses on repairing the outside of his car while the engine falls apart. No matter how many coats of paint you spray the car with, no matter how beautiful it looks on the outside, if the engine is broken that car will never move, and a car that is not functional benefits no one.
We work so hard every day to impress society that will not even remember us after we are six feet under. This is the curse of man. Others live their lives impressing others at the expense of their peace of mind and soul. They live a life that they cannot financially afford and attract extra pressure and stress which they end up taking out on the ones they love. Sometimes we need to stop and ask ourselves, ‘is what I am doing really for me or is it to impress society?’
It’s about time we stopped focusing so much on what people can see and channel that energy to what people cannot see. We need to stop living for others and start living and taking care of ourselves, for those we strive to please will not be bothered after we have ‘fried’ ourselves working for them. Someone once told me that we are all part of a machine, and every part of a machine can be replaced no matter how important it is. That stuck with me to this day, and helped me understand that no matter what we do, no matter how much we give, no matter how much of ourselves we sacrifice for our jobs, at the end of the day we all can be replaced by the ones we work for. So, it is time to put ourselves first. It is time to rejuvenate ourselves, for ourselves. We will worry about the world later, for if we do not sort out our spiritual and mental state, then our physical state will matter no more.
Read – Unquenchable Appetite; Politics of Power – An Article by Comfort Nyati (SDB), Zimbabwe
Pertinent article and well written 👍👏
Looking forward to more articles by the author
The author very eloquently illustrates day-to-day life in a modern world. It is an excellent article!