As adults, we’re often told to go go go, get things done, make things happen, finish that to-do list, blah blah blah. But we’re rarely told to rest.
Napping is severely wasted on the young, am I right?
Anyway, what happens when we’re moving all the time and we don’t take the time to rest? We burn out. We get sad or crabby or angry or frustrated. We may take it out on other people. The list goes on.
Burnout is far too common in our society, and more people need to be talking about different potential solutions. One major one, though, is simple: rest.
Whether that means taking a 20-minute nap after you get home from work or if you want to veg out on the couch and binge-watch your favorite show, do it. If you have a stack of work and chores that need to get done, do some of them and then take a break to journal or go for a walk or just sit on the couch for five minutes.
We all need to rest more! Our brains and bodies literally can’t handle going at the speed of light all the time. So whatever rest means to you, whether it’s literally sleeping or metaphorically resting mentally or emotionally, please do it more.
Do not feel guilty about taking the time to rest in your life. You literally won’t be able to function if you don’t rest from time to time. But wouldn’t it be nice if you were able to rest before you reached near-breakdown mode?
Checking in with our bodies and seeing what they want to do to rest and relax for even five minutes a day can really have a positive impact in our daily lives.
Maybe some days, you relax in bed and scroll through YouTube or Facebook videos for others. Maybe other days, you bake a new pastry or desert. Or perhaps you start a new book, check out a new store, go on a date night, etc.
Resting doesn’t have to mean just napping. It can mean anything that helps you relax and recharge and get ready to live your life to the fullest without risk of burnout.
So what do you like to do to rest, and how can you incorporate that more into you life? Because you’re meant to do more than endless to-do lists and wake up, work, sleep, repeat.
Photo by Angelina Kichukova on Unsplash
