How to take a rest

Let’s remind myself how to take a rest and how to differentiate it from running away.

First, taking a rest usually has a plan in mind when to come back. When we sleep, we know that we will wake up. When we eat, we know that we will stop eating and do something else. This means that binge on something including watching youtube or reading article is not really a rest.

Second, taking a rest is doing something that makes us happy or energised. It can be drinking my favorite drinks or eating my favorite food. It can be taking a nap. Running away is driven by fear. Resting is pursuing happiness.

Third, taking a rest involves changing our focus. We need to close our eyes when sleeping. We need to change clothes before a full body massage. We need to stop talking when eating or drinking. We need to zoom out from what we do and change the focus to something else. Running away still focus on the problems we have and that is not resting.

Fourth, taking a rest involves taking a step back and give us the option whether we want to continue what we do previously or change it. It also involves remembering. For example, now that I am trying to rest, remember this exhaustive feeling that I can be more careful before taking commitments. We can also remember why we do certain things and our initial passions. Running away robs the chance to courageously face the problems or say no and stop doing what we usually do. Running away is trying to forget something while resting is remembering something.

So let’s take the right rest and be recharged in God’s grace.