Smoking breaks have healthy aspect

Go to any large office building. Observe it for a while. Invariably, during working hours, there are people who come out of the building and just hang out. Sometimes these people congregate in groups, sometimes alone. But they are out there, day after day, enjoying the sun or the wind, the warmth or the chill, just standing around, taking a break. And what are they doing at the same time? Smoking.

No, this is not an anti-smoking column. I am not going to bash smokers. I think we should follow their example. Think about it - every two hours or so, they take a break, no matter what they are doing, they go outside and they relax, chat with friends, complain about their bosses or their workloads or their kids, or share their accomplishments and aspirations. Every few hours they tear themselves away from their desks, their phones, their computers, and they do something that is renewing and healthy (well, except for the smoking part) for them. They give themselves a few minutes of just taking care of themselves, every few hours. And because it's a physical need they have, they do it consistently, almost religiously.

Why are smokers the only people who take a break?

I recently was facilitating a support group for people living with cancer. Three of the five people in the group who had gone back to work said they never take breaks during their workdays, even though they were recovering from cancer treatment. They did not even take breaks for lunch. One person said she hesitated to take the time to go to the bathroom, and usually waited until she absolutely positively had no other choice. I found this discussion amazing. Here were people with every right to take it a little easy, and they were doing the opposite.

It's an interesting phenomenon: Unless driven to it, by an addiction or an outside force, many of us are willing to totally neglect ourselves. Sometimes we blame our bosses, or our workloads. But if we were smokers with these same bosses and same workloads, we would take those much-needed breaks. Nothing could stop us. We so willingly sacrifice ourselves for jobs that don't demand it, and give every minute of our time when we don't have to. And if your job does make these demands of your every second, why do you think you should stay in this job? We are not robots. We need to rest, even during the day. We are human beings, not human doings. Why are we so unwilling to let ourselves just be for a few minutes?

I recently heard about some research in which the productivity of people who worked 40 hours a week was compared with people who worked 60 hours per week. The interesting result was that people who work longer are no more productive than the folks who set some limits. So I'm not advocating that we all become slackers, just that we pay some attention to our own needs, every day, every few hours, just like people who smoke. The mountain on your desk will still be there, but you will be better able to deal with it.

If self-neglect is how you currently live your life, it's not easy to get into the habit of self-care. Maybe a good method is to become friends with a smoker, and join him or her on every one of those cigarette breaks - just stand downwind. If you can't find a smoker to glom onto, set your computer to shut off every two hours to remind you to go take a break. Or set an alarm. Take a break. The mountain on your desk can wait.

Rabbi H. Rafael Goldstein is the chaplain at Banner Thunderbird Hospital. He also has a private practice of spiritual counseling for people living with serious illness. He can be reached at ravrafael@earthlink.net.

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