Rhythms of the Life 生活的節奏
Rhythms show up in many aspects of life. They affect the way we feel day by day or throughout the seasons. They affect our moods and attitudes deeply on a personal basis. Even the language we use to communicate with each other is able to deliver multiple meanings according to the rhythms of the sounds. In our daily activities, we may sometimes find deep satisfaction, while at other times, we are simply engaged in a boring routine, without realizing that our activities are in tune with our natural life rhythms at one time, and at another time, we may be forced to adapt (適應) to different rhythms that may not be fully natural. The earth is created with a sense of rhythms, such as night and day, fall, summer, spring, winter as well as the ocean’s tides. The human race, too, is designed to live by certain natural rhythms, like waking and sleeping, hearts and their beats, weekdays and weekends, and the REM (快速動眼期rapid eye movement) patterns, etc. (REM負責處理睡眠時，記憶與情感的部分。白天所碰到的事物及學習的內容，睡眠時會在REM這段時間儲存到記憶中，同時也保持其他記憶，並刪除某些記憶。想要維持睡眠中穩定的情緒，我們要由睡眠中REM這段時間來調節)
Life can sometimes feel like a juggling act (盡力對付的局面). We all have multiple responsibilities and commitments to manage, from work to family and hobbies. It can be difficult to prioritize our time, and find the balance and harmony in our lives. Rhythm is the repeated pattern of movement in time, and it can help us create orders in our daily lives. When we develop a consistent routine, we take charge of our time and energy, eliminating distractions and increasing focus. This can lead to a greater sense of accomplishment and fulfillment. Additionally, following regular rhythms promotes better sleep patterns, healthier eating habits, and more balanced emotional states for us.
Life is full of rhythms. There are many kinds of natural rhythms. For example, we feel deeply the cycles of sun and moon. The human body is replete (充滿的) with rhythmical processes, such as respiration, heartbeat, circadian (二十四小時的生理節奏) cycles, and menstrual (月經的) cycles. When we speak, we communicate not only with the words we choose, but also with the rhythms of speech. A generally slow pace creates a calm mood, whereas a quick pace suggests excitement or impatience. Moreover, our experiences of rhythms involve a sense of movements, such as foot-tapping, head-nodding, and social interactions. Rhythms even extend to the biological systems, such as the resetting of body clocks by sunlight. Therefore, the cycles of day and night influence the internal body clocks of our organisms. If our body clock falls out of the different cycle of day and night, we suffer from jetlag, which can result in tiredness, wakefulness, and irritability.
Why do we care about rhythms? Actually, they connect us to the world. They play a role in listening, in language, in understanding speeches in noisy places, in walking, and even in our feelings toward one another. We experience the rhythmic changes of the seasons. Frogs croak (呱呱地叫) rhythmically to attract mates and change their rhythms to signal aggression. Walking, to us, is a rhythm, too. When walking through the woods, we simultaneously hear slow footsteps, the unfolding crunch (嘎吱作響) of leaves underfoot, and the rapid snap (劈啪地響) of a twig. Rhythms also helps us exercise as we move to keep ourselves balanced. The better we understand the biological basis of rhythms, the better we will be able to employ (使用) rhythms to improve communication and to better understand ourselves.
We all know that eating a healthy diet, engaging in regular physical activity, not smoking and managing stress contribute to cardiovascular (心血管的) health. But have we ever thought about what rhythms of our daily life might do for our risk of cardiovascular disease? In fact, our daily 24-hour pattern of activity and rest, including sleep, matters. According to some studies, 37% of people who have better-than-average rest-activity rhythms have high blood pressure, and 6% have cardiovascular disease, compared to 50% and 13%, respectively, for those who have lower-than-average rhythms. It suggests that when we live our lives with regular rhythms, it is good for our health. We really need to set up our steady daily rhythms. Machines were introduced during the Industrial Revolution to optimize human output. The problem is that machines aren’t alive and, therefore, don’t operate based on the same inherent rhythms of life that we do. On the contrary, God created people with a natural work/life balance. While achieving perfect balance in all areas of our lives, we enjoy our natural rhythms of life. Research has uncovered that our heartbeat, blood pressure, body temperature, hormone levels, among other things, rise and fall in seven-day patterns. In other words, our bodies and brains need to take a rest on a weekly basis in order to be fully replenished (補充). Annual rhythms are reflected in the 4 seasons, the lunar cycles, the growth of most terrestrial (陸地的) plants and the reproduction of animals in the temperate (有節制的) zones. In our modern world, we can control most things in our life. However, there’s something deeply valuable in recognizing that there is an ebb and flow to our existence that we can’t ultimately control. All we can really do is to learn to understand the time of year, the seasons of life, and embrace it entirely. We’re not machines. We cannot choose to operate like them. And in many ways, we should adapt to the natural rhythms of our life.