My plan for today is rest. So it’s only natural that my wish for you today is also rest, because of course we always want everyone to be on the same page we’re on.
But I understand rest may not be in the cards for you today. You may have to accomplish some important task or you might have to work. I feel you. I’m not here to shame you if you have to work today. I only want to remind you to find some time in the midst of your busyness to move rest to the top of your To-Do list.
No, not sleep—although that may be much needed as well—what I’m talking about is rest. What is rest? Well, it can look like many things but I have a very simple definition:
There are all the daily demands of work and life and home, and then there is the rest.
Rest is everything about you which falls outside those daily demands. Rest is whatever makes you more than a one dimensional person. Rest is what taps into the rest of you.
It’s ok to be physically tired, we’re all tired, but it’s not ok to allow yourself to become mentally and emotionally exhausted. It’s not ok for living breathing human beings to shells of their former selves. That is true exhaustion, and true exhaustion doesn’t come from spending too much time on any one thing, but from spending no time on anything else. That “anything else” stuff is the rest of you. The rest of you is your rest.
Today my rest will be somewhat active and hopefully include a lighting design idea I’ve been fiddling with. So it might look like work but it’s not for a client or for the radio or something essential for my house or family. It’s something that’s part of the rest of me. Therefore, for me it will be rest.
And so whether it’s some active project or building a puzzle, or reading a book or just staying into the fire with a soft blanket and a warm drink, I want you to rest, and so does nature herself this time of year. It’s been a long year, the days are growing shorter, and it’s time for some rest. This time of year even the sun isn’t a morning person. What does that mean? It means the universe is giving you its permission to rest so when you do get together with friends and family you’ll have something to share other than your current life crisis or what’s happening at work.
When those conversations are over don’t leave anyone wondering, “Ok there’s all that, but what about … the rest?”
So get some rest. Take some rest. Give yourself time to rediscover the rest of you. For only then, only after you’ve found your rest and allowed it to re-inflate you into a fully 3 dimensional person, will you have what you need to build yourself a beautiful life.