I was a keynote speaker at a luncheon meeting last week and during the networking hour, I spoke with two women who had recently been sidelined from work for health issues. One was out of work for a week due to a bad infection. The other was out of work for almost two months due to pneumonia.
They both spoke about how challenging it was to return to work and pace themselves according to their energy levels. It’s easy to get caught up in the commitments of regular life and maintain a really busy schedule.
In our culture that values
- doing over being
- growth over maintenance
- busy work over stillness
…it can feel like an act of rebellion to declare “I need to rest.”
I’ve struggled with it myself lately – taking the time I need to rest. I’ve got some health challenges going on so I’ve scheduled some doctor’s appointments to get to the bottom of everything. I trust that I will figure it out with some professional guidance.
While I’m able to get through the day-to-day commitments of getting my daughter off to school, meeting with coaching clients, running my networking groups, preparing for speaking engagements, writing my weekly articles for you and cooking dinner for my family… there hasn’t been energy for much else.
I see rest as an invitation to go deeper in my personal journey. I’ve been spending more time napping, journaling, reading and meditating. I’m going for slow walks by the creek with Daisy the dog in the early mornings before it gets too hot. I’m going to bed earlier (most days).
Choosing to rest is helping me to get clear about my priorities and know that all of the other “to do’s” can wait until I regain my health.
So if for any reason you are feeling the need to rest more than usual, I wanted to share with you a few of my favorite quotes that remind me that slowing down is not only OK but sometimes it’s necessary.
6 Inspiring Quotes to Help You Get The Rest You Crave
“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes… including you.” – Anne Lamott
“Solitude, says the moon shell. Every person, especially every woman, should be alone sometime during the year, some part of each week, and each day…the core, the inner spring, can best be re-found through solitude.” – Anne Morrow Lindbergh
“Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer; since to remain constantly at work will cause you to lose power or judgment…Go some distance away because the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance, and a lack of harmony or proportion is more readily seen.” – Leonardo da Vinci
“If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit.” – Banksy
“An amazing thing happens when we slow down. We start to get flashes of inspiration. We reach a new level of understanding and even wisdom. In a quiet moment, we can get an intuitive insight that can change our entire life and the lives of the people around us in incredibly positive ways. And those changes can last a lifetime. Living more simply will make it possible to create those quiet moments. Out of those quiet moments, miracles happen. Be open to them.” – Elaine St. James
“All life requires a rhythm of rest. There is a rhythm in the way day dissolves into night, and night into morning. There is a rhythm as the active growth of spring and summer is quieted by the necessary dormancy of fall and winter. There is a tidal rhythm, a deep, eternal conversation between the land and the great sea. ” ― Wayne Muller
If you are feeling the call to rest, please heed it.
It doesn’t mean you have to stop for good. But you will benefit by pausing. I guarantee it!
Here’s to more rest… for all of us!
Elizabeth
P.S. If you’re going to make an effort for some extra rest this week, tell me about it so I can cheer you on!
P.P.S. Perhaps you’re not the one who needs this message but you have a loved one that does… please forward this article to them … with lots of love from you, of course!