Rest

“Having too little rest can leave me feeling deprived and exhausted; having too much can leave me stagnant and lazy.  However, having just enough is a very sweet experience.”

One of the hardest things for me to do is sit still.   This has been an issue for most of my life.  

I was like an Energizer bunny; I just kept going and going, fully charged at all times. 

As a child, I squirmed in my seat at school.  I talked too much.  Quiet was something that I was afraid of being around because at the slight instance of the absence of sound or busyness, I would create noise, even if it was in my own mind.  

As an adult, I could not sit at home to grade essays or create presentations.  I went to restaurants to soak in the noise around me so that I could focus.  For some reason, hearing the murmuring conversations, the live music, and the clicking of dishes quieted my mind enough to focus. 

It seems backwards: needing noise to feel calm and focused.  It was just the reality of the way my mind worked best.  

Recently, I changed.  I craved true mental and physical rest so deeply. I wanted the noise to disappear. For some reason, I couldn’t seem to find quiet any more. The very thing I tried to escape from is the very thing I was searching for now.    

I feel like even in the small pauses between a conversation, I lean into moments of brief quiet and savor them like a rare dessert.  There are times when I want to just shove more of the quiet into the moment, but I know that, similar to a dessert, if I have too much, it won’t be good for me. 

I think that is the trick with rest. Having too little rest can leave me feeling deprived and exhausted; having too much can leave me stagnant and lazy.  However, having just enough is a very sweet experience.  

No matter how busy I am, I know that I have the choice to take little breaks throughout the day.  Whether it is purposefully setting aside time to separate from the noise or whether it is just recognizing and appreciating the little moments that are given to me throughout the day, I am capable of bringing or savoring moments of true rest in my daily routine.  

Rest also does not need to be the absence of something. It can be the result of completing something enjoyable.  Writing this blog is a testament to the fact that I took time to sit and do something I enjoy, even with all of the to-do list items that are staring at me from the list in my planner. 

It is important to empower ourselves to take just enough rest to recharge our batteries so that we can keep going and going and going. We can become more energized from our ability to take a break, lean into the quiet, and truly rest.