Take 10~ Ten Dynamic Golden Rules That Help You Live Longer, Feel Better, and Look Good.....series Golden Rule 2 part 1

 From the book ~
Take Ten- Ten Dynamic Golden Rules That Help You Live Longer, Feel Better, and Look Good

Golden Rule 2. The Law of Rest and Restoration

"Take It Easy~ You'll Last Longer" 

 

 

A story published long ago in Coronet magazine told about a young man who was always in a hurry. The boy and his father farmed a little piece of land, but that was about all they had in common. The old man believed in taking it easy, but the young man was a go getter.

 

One day, early in the morning, they loaded their cart with produce and set out for the city, where they planned to market their vegetables. it was quite a trip, particularly traveling by oxcart, as they did. The young man, impatient to get there, kept prodding the ox with a  stick.

 

"Take it easy," said the old man. "You'll last longer."

"But it's going to take us all day and night to get there," the young man replied. "If we hurry we'll get to market in the morning before everyone else and not only get better prices for our produce but be able to start home sooner."

 

The old farther didn't answer. He just pulled his hat down over his eyes and went to sleep. Some time later they came to a little house near the road. "Here's your uncle's place," the old man said. "Let's stop and say hello."

 

The young man could hardly sit still while the two brothers gossiped and enjoyed each other's company for the better part of an hour.

Finally resuming the journey, they soon came to a fork in the road. Let's take the one on the left," the old gentleman urges.

"But Father, that way takes longer," the son impatiently replied.

"I know, but it's a prettier way to go."

"Don't you have any respect for time? " the young man grumbles.

"Oh yes, I respect it very much. That's why I like to use it for looking at wild flowers and trees."

Sunset found them in a most beautiful part of the country, and the old man insisted that they sleep there overnight.

"This is the last trip I'll ever take with you. You just don't have any business sense." snapped the young man.

Before sunrise the next morning the son, eager to be on the way shook his father awake. They had traveled only about a mile when they came upon a farmer trying to pull his ox out of a ditch. "Let's help him," the old man urged.

"We'll never get to the city at this rate!" the young man exploded.

"Relax, son, and you'll last longer."

By the time they got the other cart back on the road and approached the rim of the hill that looked down upon the city it was a little past eight o'clock. Suddenly a great flash, like lightening, split the sky. There was a roar of thunder, and rain began to come down in torrents.

 

"If we hadn't delayed so often we'd be there by now and not caught out in this awful storm," the young man complained.

"Oh, take it easy, son," the old gentleman said, "You'll last longer."

 

After a while they came to a spot where they could look down on the city. The sight they saw caused the young lad to exclaim in suddenly humbled tones, "I see what you mean, Father." Turning their cart around they drove away from the ruins of atom-bombed Hiroshima.

 

The wise words of the old farmer state a basic law that governs life: "Take it easy; you'll last longer." All nature demonstrates that we violate this golden rule of rest and restoration only at the risk of life and health.

 

Even the heart, which is through to be continually at work, actually rests(between beats) about twice as long as it works. Physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually we need to rest in order to maintain good health. When a person becomes ill, one of the treatments the doctor often prescribes is rest. Living in a world that is filled with stress and tension demands that we learn to rest and restore ourselves to fitness.