Have you planned your day of rest?

IMG_0184
IMG_0184

Believe it or not, you are merely two days away from the weekend. Are you ready to rest?

If you're like many people, you've already filled your dance card.

Errands Sports Laundry Yard work Projects Grocery shopping Dinner out .... and maybe a little football.

Do these things bring you joy? Do any of them bring you rest?

Rest is an elusive thing for me because I convince myself I will rest AFTER I finish my "to do" list.  I see rest as something I earn after working hard and being productive.

However, I think this perspective is backwards.

Rest shouldn't be a reward when I'm exhausted and empty.  Rest needs to be the START of all I do.  It should be my fuel for tackling the week ahead.  When I begin with rest,  life works better.

My first challenge is remembering this principle, but the second challenge is even greater: prioritizing rest.

For me, this means saying no, unplugging, and generally leaving things undone and that's about as easy as skipping chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant.

The ONLY way it happens is if I make a plan.  What about you?

Have you planned your time off?  There's still time to make it happen!

Still need some inspiration?  Read (and re-read) the words of Maya Angelou:

“Every person needs to take one day away.  A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future.  Jobs, family, employers, and friends can exist one day without any one of us, and if our egos permit us to confess, they could exist eternally in our absence.  Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for.  Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us.”

Now make it happen!