A Good Rest, Dear One.

Do you know that sensation when you wake in the morning feeling WELL-RESTED, you feel like you can absolutely access your FULL POTENTIAL, and you feel READY TO DO ANYTHING?

Now, before you roll your eyes at me, sarcastically thinking “Yeah, Right,” please know that there’s no judgment on my part, and I’ve had plenty of mornings that were the opposite of the above description—including this morning.

Last night, I was up late writing, and when I finished, I still had a kitchen to clean after crafting homemade pizza for dinner.  And, while I loved ALL of that—the pizza-making, the writing, and the clean kitchen—the shortfall of rest leaves me already feeling depleted and “less-than” this morning.

As I’ve been making a practice of getting more rest, I find that I’m more sensitive and aware when I haven’t gotten enough.  I feel I’m not ready, not at my best, and not prepared to reach my FULL POTENTIAL.

For a long time, I operated constantly from the place of never enough rest.  I’d wake in the morning already feeling depleted, and I would pound coffee and push myself through my day.

I recognize now the consequence of that—always moody, short-tempered, inflexible, less creative.  I was not at my best, I did not have the sense that I could accomplish anything, and my FULL POTENTIAL seemed unreachable.

I used to tell myself a good story about how I had NO CHOICE, and if I wanted to SUCCEED, that was the ONLY WAY.

 

What I want to share with you is this—it’s not the only way.  It’s one way.  And, it’s a hard way, and not a particularly healthy way.

There is another way.  To listen to your body.  To care for yourself.  To rest now, and often, and as much as you need, so that when you are active, doing, and LIVING YOUR LIFE, you are WIDE AWAKE and AT YOUR BEST.

That is a way to JOY.

And, You have a CHOICE.