originally published on my first blog, Sept. 22, 2017
Let's talk a little about rest. Rest is so often neglected in life. School, work marriage, parenting, family time and other responsibilities and commitments pile up and threaten our needed times of rest.
Yet, rest is essential for mental, physical and spiritual health. Just do a Google search, and you'll find countless articles delving into the negative effects on your body from stress and lack of rest.
Finding rest in the chaos can be so hard, but it is life-giving.
Letting go of the unnecessary commitments that clutter our lives and focusing on the important can be hard, but is also life-giving.
Letting ourselves slow down and breathe – rest – is essential.
I have struggled with this off and on through my life. I love to stay busy, I struggle with perfectionism and I am happy to work hard at whatever tasks are before me. And now, being a wife and a mother are both very beautiful and amazing things that I wouldn't trade for anything. However, both take a lot of energy, and sometimes it is exhausting. Moms tend to be problem-solvers and doers. We tend to focus on all the tasks that need to be done and on taking care of everyone else, but we often neglect to rest in the process.
But, if we don't rest, we don't do any of the things we do well. If we don't rest, our health suffers, and nothing we do is up to standard.
My hope for you is that wherever you are in life, you will slow down, and take time to step away and rest. I hope that you focus on what's important and let go of the things that are life-sucking. I hope that you learn to enjoy quiet and breathe deeply. I hope you see that you don't have to be constantly busy, and constantly perfect, to live a meaningful life. Because it is often in the quiet, most restful moments...whether alone or with those we love, that the most meaning in life can be found.
