Rest is not a reward. It is your return

Do you ever feel guilty for resting?  

Have you ever had a boss that made you feel guilty for taking time off? That whole work hard/play hard crap? 

Did your parents instill in you that being industrious and helpful was the most important thing? 

As the child of two workaholics that used “work” to escape confronting responsibilities, and as someone that worked 6 days a week to make sure I met sales quotas or to be indispensable to clients, I can say yes, I have felt guilty for resting.  

Resting is painful to me. It feels lazy, and unproductive, and like I’m wasting my time here.  

But being dutiful and a workaholic hasn’t really gotten me farther. It’s gotten me somewhere, but it hasn’t gotten me farther.  

It wasn’t until the concussion in February that forced me to actually rest that I realized how much damage not taking rest and not focusing on myself had done. I was overextended, overwhelmed, overburdened, and burnt the heck out! The injury forced me to confront that, and every step I have made since then has been to transform the harmful belief that I had to earn rest.  

You don’t have to earn rest. Rest is not a reward, it’s a right. When we rest, we give our body and spirit and opportunity to heal on all levels. If you don’t believe me, watch how long it takes a wound to heal on a full night’s sleep versus a few hours a night. This industrious workaholic, “I’ll rest when I’m dead” mentality is a holdover from our Puritan days. Puritans believed that hard work and diligence weren’t just practical necessities but also showed their worthiness to God. The Puritan Work Ethic crossed over into our daily lives here in America and led to our countries attitudes towards work and labor.  

It. Is. Exhausting.    

I want to start a revolution (yes, even in these unsure times) where we embrace rest, and renewal, and self-care, and we tell corporate leaders that we aren’t working ourselves to the bone for pennies. I want more people to quit their day job to do their right work, their soul work, the work that feeds their spirit (and bank account) and makes the world a better place. And we can’t even begin to do that without rest, renewal, recharging, quiet, and walks in nature.  

Please rest.  

Get in touch with yourself.  

Listen to your soul.  

See where your mind, Spirit, God, Goddess, whatever you believe in, leads you. 

Oh, and join my revolution 😊 

Be well, friend