Rest

You just can’t go-go-go everyday. There needs to be time to relax the mind and allow yourself to take it all in. Not to be preachy as I know how offended some people seem to get when you mention God or the Bible, but the Bible makes it very clear that a day of rest is extremely important. Of course, in the Bible that day of rest is also a day to worship God, but even for a non-believer the idea that a day of rest is important to ones sanity is still very solid. I do believe in God and my faith is something that is really important to me. When I’m happiest it’s usually because I’m making sure that I make time for God in my life. When I get self destructive and sloppy, things don’t seem to go the way I want them to. Recently I’d been praying for something pretty specific and just today at the strangest time it felt like my prayer was answered right in the middle of the Stud 8 or better tournament. In came in the form of an e-mail I received from a fellow poker player who is also a believer. Essentially my prayers revolved around the idea that I needed some help down here keeping me on the right path. Most of my friends are either agnostic or atheist. Not all, but most. I rarely discuss my personal beliefs with them because I don’t want to be all preachy and stuff. That often leaves me unfulfilled, though, since I don’t have a lot of people close to me that are also believers. Frankly, the only real “church” I am a part of us is the daily devotionals I receive from my ex-mother-in-law (that’s a lot of hyphens). I feel good when I read the daily devotionals, but it’s not quite enough food for the soul if that’s all I’m doing. Anyway, the e-mail I received from my poker player friend came at just the right time. It sparked something in me that has a tendency to fade when I’m “too busy.” I enjoy asking really tough “life” questions and speculating about the answers. I like searching for answers to all of life’s questions and having people around me that challenge me, be it atheists, Christians, Muslims, or Jews, ultimately strengthens my faith. ***************************************************************** When I started writing this blog tonight I had no plans of speaking about God or Faith . Looks like I’ve rambled on quite a bit and got off topic. The title of the blog is Rest and is supposed to be about me being wiser now, understanding that being well rested for the series is just as important as laying down middle pair when I get check-raised by a tight player. So back on topic, I could have played the $1500 PLO event at noon today on little sleep. It would have been a very high percentage opportunity to pick up some points for the Player of the Year race. I could have also played in the $1500 7 Card Stud event at 6:30pm when I busted from the tournament, but something inside me told me I needed to focus on my body first. That I couldn’t push myself too hard or it would cost me in the long run. So instead I’m home with Mushu relaxing and doing “nothing.” It’s been a while since I’ve done that…]]>