Finding a Restful Life

Life is SO BUSY!! Trying to balance work, school, family, friendships, and other commitments is exhausting!! Unfortunately, our society values the “go-go-go” mindset. Many people believe that you must get the next promotion, have the nicest car, or Pinterest-worthy wardrobe in order to feel valuable. There’s no time to sit down and relax for even three minutes. I’m not immune to this. I have always been the girl who has her schedule filled from 8am to 10pm because I am a busy body. I feel that if I take time to rest, I won’t be performing in the capacity that others expect of me (or I expect of myself). However, I’m starting to learn that rest is GOOD. Hard but good.

We cannot give 110% of our efforts 100% of the time. It’s not physically possible. It is so desperately important to take time to rest and recharge in order to be the best version of ourselves. Maybe you’re bad at rest like I am… If that’s you, I want to share some things that I have found helpful in creating a rest routine for myself. Full disclaimer: I’m still learning how to properly rest and don’t have it all figured out but I’m striving to be a person that values and maintains a balance of work and rest.

Take time for yourself DAILY. Yes, every single day. It doesn’t have to be a lot of time. It could be 15-30 minutes of alone time, a long shower/bath, reading a good book, or prayer. Whatever you do, carve out some time to take care of your body and soul. You will thank yourself later (:

Prepare for your busyness WEEKLY. For the most part, you probably know what your week is going to look like by now, right? Take some time to prepare yourself for this. That might look a few different ways. If you know that you won’t have time to make dinner, meal prep on Sunday to maintain a healthy diet instead of eating fast-food on the go. Make it a habit to do a little bit of cleaning and laundry daily to avoid having to devote an entire day during your week to these chores.

Finally, my favorite: TREAT YO’ SELF. To a pedicure. To that dessert in your pantry. To that shirt from (fill in the blank). Reward yourself for working hard. Life is all about balance. This isn’t me saying to go crazy but it’s okay to indulge every once in a while! You deserve it!

If you need permission to take time for yourself and rest, I am giving it to you right now! Start implementing time for rest into your daily life. You aren’t super-human. We all need to rest. If you’ve been feeling exhausted lately, seriously consider how rest might restore your energy. Let’s start this journey towards living a restful life together. Who’s with me?!