Rest is Required

Rest is required. November has arrived. The trees are barren. The wind, brisk. The days are shorter and darker. It is the season of shedding and one of leaving behind. It is one of letting go, and the letting be. The welcoming of quiet. The silence of stillness. And the resonance of rest.

And yet…there is pressure for more. There are pushes for productivity and bellows for boldness. On social channels, you’re hearing many ask, ‘what will you do with these last two months of the year’? It is here, in this culture of hustle and grind, we forget the importance of rest and reflection. Guilt whispers louder than exhaustion, and it becomes the squeaky wheel, which gets the grease.  

‘More is the measure of our worth. Productivity the rating of the person’. These are common messages we receive in our culture, and they’re not ones that serve us well. We need rejuvenation. We need rest. We need reflection. And if we don’t make time for it, in most cases, it won’t happen.

Candidly, I’m an active ‘doer’. I’m a first-born, overachieving, Type A, recovering perfectionist. I’m an ideator and creative. My brain rarely shuts off, let alone slows down. And based on those descriptors I just named, I have often fallen as an easy victim to the ‘don’t settle for less, do more, be more’ mantra.

PSA: It’s bullshit.

I’m tired, y’all. Grad school is H-A-R-D. Preparing to become a therapist is harder. And so is writing my book, and growing my business, and creating content like this. And yet…I LOVE IT ALL. If I’m working on things I love, like this, I will do, and push, and grind. I will sacrifice other things, to work on my passions and my dreams. And there’s nothing wrong with that – IF it’s what you enjoy, and IF it’s what fills your cup. But if the doing, is one only based in ‘enoughness’, if it is rooted in the need to do more, to believe you’re worthy of more – then it’s time to say no. And I’m learning to do that too. To make room for the things I love, I have to say no to some things. To make room for rest, I must take room from someplace else.

And there’s nothing wrong with that. You’re the only boss of you, beauties. It’s hard to say no, but it’s okay to say no. And as you practice saying it, it becomes easier.

Will you piss some people off? Maybe. Will some feel disappointed? Probably. Will you feel guilty? Possibly. But it’s necessary.

You’re the only you you’ve got, and that needs protecting.

Rest. Reflect. Refuel.

That’s a lot of doing for the last 60 days of the year, and there is doing in the resting. Remember that.

Rest IS productive. Rest is needed. Rest is required.