Nature has always been my check-out time. Walking the farm, sitting in a tree stand or a deer blind, just the sound of the wind through the trees was often enough to clear even the worst of the cobwebs from my mind and refresh my soul. Throughout my teen and college years, nature was my vacation and my refuge, an escape from the day-to-day worries and bothers of simply being a human in the world.
Then came cell phones and laptops, smart phones and iPads and more and more often, they joined me in nature. I started taking pictures, and texting and the blind became a mobile office, where I was out of sight, but never out of reach. Of course, as I started running companies and became a father, it was more and more important to be available, and that was how I continued to hunt and still be a CEO, a husband, father: the lines of communication were never cut.
In the last few months, Shabbat has become my new nature. The 24-hours of phone-free family immersion has released me from the Twilight Zone trance of the screen. This past weekend I was at Disney on Ice (phoneless!!!), and I found myself looking at the crowd: playing Candy Crush, tweeting, making videos of the skaters and their kids watching the skaters. I looked over at the boys and Nadine, and it was like I saw a whole new world (Disney pun intended).
My Shabbat refresh has become a critically important part of my week. I feel centered and connected to my family. The Shabbat tree stand gives me that “above and clear” scout view on my companies and the challenges and successes there. Checking out is something I never thought I could do, but now I cannot imagine not doing it. This 24-hour reprieve fires me up for the other six days of my week so I can hit my targets with clarity and purpose.
What works to bring you clarity? How do you Shabbat? Hit me up on Facebook or Twitter (@theFarbz) and let me know – #thisishowIShabbat
