Choosing to Rest and How to Do It

Hi friends! I am back after a quarantine hiatus, and it feels so good to be here with all of you! I truly love blogging, but if I'm honest, my body, mind, and soul needed a rest. Isn't life just like that though? We are constantly moving. As humans, we get to the point where we know in our heart that we need rest, but do we ever actually take that?

The world teaches us that we need to constantly produce, and that is what equals success. You know what blows my mind though? God, the creator of the universe, even He needed rest. Isn't that such a huge testament to the fact that we too need rest?

Who needs rest?

For most of my life, I believed the lie that taking a break from anything was for lazy people. Resting meant that you weren't as good or as successful as everyone around you. Maybe you yourself have believed that lie as well. We all know we need rest, but for the sake of becoming successful, we decide not to take a break. Rest isn't for those who are lazy though, it is for all humans of any age or any occupation.

Maybe you're a mom, home with the kids all day. You are cleaning up after their messes, constantly getting climbed on like a jungle gym, breaking up their silly arguments, or taking them out on daily adventures.

Maybe you're working a part time job, figuring out what you wanna do next in your life.

You might be that person with a full time job, working hard to pay the bills. The boss might be difficult to work with, your co-workers might be difficult to be around and the job might consist of work that is highly overwhelming.

You might even be a student, trying to chase after your dreams. You might be up all night studying for that test that is stressing you out. Or you could even be stressing out over a fellow student who doesn't necessarily like you.

No matter who you are or what stage of life you are in, you are in need of a break; a moment just to breath.

When do we need rest?

I can't say that everyone needs the same amount of rest, but I do know that we all need it, and we need it on a normal basis. Take a moment and reflect on your own life.

Have you gotten to the point of lashing out on those around you?Maybe your kids have asked you for a snack and instead of going to grab it for them, you have yelled at them that they are fully capable of doing that themselves.Has your husband just come home from work and you're upset with him before he even says hi? You were with the kids all day, and you're ready to send them straight over to him before he's even taken a minute to breathe and set his things down. If any of these things ring true, it's time to rest.

How to rest

Rest doesn't happen by accident, but by intentionality. You must make the decision to rest and recover your body, mind and soul. But how exactly do you rest? Everyone feels rested in different ways. I've truly learned that through being married to my husband for the past 8 plus years. He's the opposite of me, and it took me awhile to realize that we all love different, and we all rest different. What refreshes my soul, may not refresh yours. If you don't know how you personally feel rest, try different things. I personally rest well when I sit in a coffee shop writing, or my personal favorite, sharing a coffee with a friend when our kiddos are not around. My husband rests well when he gets to head to his man cave, aka his office in the basement. He loves reading a good book in the silence of his own space. No matter how you rest though, you are going to need to be bold enough to ask for it.

Life flies by at an incredibly fast pace. In a blink you're not a child anymore. You're a grown up with all kinds of responsibilities. You go from being a child whose biggest worry is getting out in dodgeball, to being an adult paying bills and raising children. If we choose to live a fast paced life, we are unintentionally creating future regrets.

We must learn to slow down and give ourselves much needed rest.