Rest is Revolutionary

Oh, to rest with the ease of a little dog on a big couch!

Wickett may not look comfortable, but he’s a great role model for surrendering to rest.

This week has been hard. Not for any particular reason, but for all the combined ways that life can be difficult, aggravating, and just plain exhausting.

For most of my life, I would just have kept pushing, trying harder, doing more. Fueled by stubbornness, pride, and a profoundly unhealthy quantity of coffee, I would have kept going.

Not any more.

This week, I’m doing things differently. I’m stopping. Saying no. Asking for help. Postponing. Taking shortcuts (here’s to pizza for dinner).

Resting.

In the face of a culture that worships productivity and accomplishment at all expense, rest is a revolutionary act. (Yes, revolutions can come in quiet, peaceful forms!) Rest defies the expectations, obligations, and routines that tend to grow up around us as adults. It honors the fact that we are human beings, not machines.

Scratch that. Even machines shut down for scheduled maintenance. I deserve the same.

I’m signing off and taking some time this afternoon for revolutionary rest. I hope you’ll take a cue from Wickett and do the same very soon!