A few years ago, when my daughter was about 4 years old, she was describing what our Sundays are like, “We go to church, go to P. Terry’s (our local hamburger hut), take a nap, and then…”. My heart was so full. She knows Sundays are rest days. I love that she knows that I often take a nap on Sunday afternoons. As entrepreneurs, my husband and I get to share a lot of our work life with our daughter. She helps pack some of your personal and corporate gift boxes. She knows we work hard, and I love that we get to set an example of a strong work ethic for her. But I equally love that she knows we rest.
Rest doesn’t come into our lives in a passive way. We fight for it. We fight a culture full of urgency and constant communication. There’s never a shortage of work, errands, homework-helping, cleaning, prepping, volunteering, etc., that are fighting for their spot in my day. But it’s a priority.
As you get settled into the new school year and re-establish your routine, I want you to ask yourself how you can incorporate rest. I can hear you chuckling to yourself. You don’t have time, right? I have to tell you – you do. And you must rest. Let me share from personal experience. I am a better mom when I get a good night’s sleep, a morning run, and a monthly massage. I am a better boss when I have some white space in my schedule to do things I enjoy, like reading or eating lunch outdoors…not in front of a computer. I am a better friend when I make space for happy hours and get to keep up with how my friends are really doing.
I believe rest is underprioritized in our go, go, go culture. There’s a lot of talk about self-care, but I don’t see it playing out in the daily lives of the people I know personally, especially among the women. I know I fall victim to the urgency tyrant at times. I believe we are doing ourselves a disservice by not taking care of our physical bodies. I think we all agree our lives are meant to be enjoyed, but how much can we enjoy them if we are tired, irritable, and focused on meeting unsustainable demands for our time? Re-read that sentence if you need to.
Wherever you find rest, I encourage you to make space for it on your calendar. It’s so, so important. This is one reason so many of our personal and corporate gift boxes are rest-centric. We literally have a box called beRESTED. Rest is one of the most important parts of our lives, and I want our gifts to encourage your employees, clients, and friends to slow down, unplug, and enjoy the white space.
I hope my daughter fights for her restful Sundays. I hope we have taught her that her worth is not defined by how quickly she answers an email, how many dishes are in the sink, or how many volunteer hours she has. She is a beautiful person and I hope she places an appropriate value on taking care of the beautiful body she has been given.
What about you? What makes you feel rested? Share in the comments below!
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