How do you define rest?
I’m not talking about sleep. That’s an entirely different topic. ;)
I’m not even talking about R&R. Down time, vacation, whatever you want to call it? Also important.
I’m talking about those moments in between the busy, in between the chaos, in between all the things.
One of the most difficult things in the world to do sometimes is rest, especially when making progress on something and when thinking to yourself, “Oh, just a few more minutes,” seems an easy thing to do.
“Rest” has multiple definitions, whether you’re looking at it as a noun or as a verb, and for my purposes today we’re going to look at this one from Merriam-Webster:
to cease from action or motion : refrain from labor or exertion
To rest is to cease from action or motion, to refrain from labor or exertion.
We experienced a fairly nasty thunderstorm with high winds yesterday afternoon, and today I went out to deal with the aftermath of that storm in our yard.
We are lucky and incredibly grateful that the damage here wasn’t worse, that we didn’t have a tornado, that we never lost power, and that we were actually almost able to keep our dogs calm.
This afternoon, while I was outside enjoying a gorgeously balmy afternoon with few mosquitos as I moved around the yard to cut up the branches that had fallen, I set timers on my work and I intentionally included time to rest.
And while I rested, while I ceased action or motion, refraining from labor or exertion, I also refrained from scrolling through things on my phone. I tried to take a few photos of the GIGANTIC bumblebee exploring my garden, or the hummingbird that visited, or the robin that was hunting worms and insects, but mostly? I rested. I even meditated.
Those periods of rest between the periods of exertion to break down branches and clean up the yard? They were vital to feeling successful about my afternoon. Am I tired? Yup. Am I hurting? Also yup. Am I grateful for what I accomplished? Absolutely yup.