What is rest when it’s not about recovering from work?

Growing up, my parents worked 6-7 days a week. As an adult working full-time, rest was always about recovering from work. I didn’t know rest apart from work. As I got older and learned how to maintain work-life balance, I was much more proactive about setting apart time for rest, just to rest— but it was still inevitably in relationship with work. 

When I decided to leave my full-time career and work for myself, I found myself not needing vacations in the same way. That’s because I built a schedule that worked with my flow and gave me freedom. I decided when to start my day and when I would work, leaving plenty of time in the week and year to be completely offline. 

What is rest for me without work? It’s recovering from social activity, from staying up too late, from my overthinking brain, from a hard workout, from a day out having fun…

Can I rest just to rest? Well, we try to observe Sabbath on Sundays. When we are able to keep it, we rest by not driving our cars, not doing work for others, and not having any commitments on our calendar.

We don’t need a reason to rest. Rest is being. Rest is tapping into my joy. Rest is living in my values. Rest is ease. Rest is sun on my skin. Rest is cuddling with husband without rushing out of bed. Rest is the spaciousness of my morning before starting work. Rest is journaling without a timer. Rest, as Tricia Hersey from The Nap Ministry says, is resistance.

What is rest for you? Are you getting enough of it?

If you want support with work-life balance and creating the life you want, I’m here for you.