And the principle of diminishing returns…

Farmers have known for centuries that eventually the land becomes depleted after supporting crops for an extended period of time.  Nutrients from the soil grow up into the plants and down into their roots, until the soil itself is left empty of the elements needed to support vegetation.  In order to renew the soil, the farmer moves crops to another spot, leaving the exhausted one fallow for a time so that it can recover.

People are like that, too.  YOU are like that.  So am I.

Sometimes we need to lie fallow for a season.  Our emotional soil has sustained everyone around us for so long that our nutrients become depleted, leaving little to fuel us for our own lives, much less to feed into the lives of others.  We are dry and empty.

Every now and then, we need to take some time and space to allow our own souls and hearts to be replenished, renewed, restored.  A season of stillness and self-care, however brief, can pour back into us the nourishment we need and crave…and deserve.  It is OK to receive, to absorb, and to recover.  It is not only OK, it is vital, and the more exhausted we are, the more important it is to allow ourselves the time and space to rest.

We cannot grow ourselves or anyone else until we renew our soil, and sometimes in order to renew…we need to lie Fallow.