The Need for Rest
By Carolyn Lyon James
My son got married last weekend. It was a beautiful fall day. The air was balmy with the scent of false summer. The cloudless sky shone a lustrous shade of blue. And the trees displayed all their brilliant shades of red, orange, and yellow. I was all smiles and almost bursting with pride and happiness all through the ceremony, and even through the reception afterwards. The next day, the happy couple came over to open wedding gifts and pack up their things to go on their honeymoon. My heart was full as I watched them pull out of the driveway and start the next phase of their lives. Once they were out of sight, I did something I rarely do. I went inside, and I took a nap.
As educators, most of us work far beyond the normal hours of a regular school day. Because of that, we then try to squeeze in as many chores and activities as we can into our evenings or on weekends. But one thing we don’t seem to get enough of is rest. A coworker shared a bit of advice she had printed off and taped to her computer as a reminder to not push herself beyond her own limits.
Rest is not a reward, it said. You don’t have to earn rest. You need rest. You deserve rest. You are worthy of rest simply because you are a living being, and you don’t need to feel guilty for taking time to rest.
She said she came across it one night as she was scrolling through social media. She had been doing schoolwork and decided to take a quick break before continuing on with her work. When she saw this meme, she changed her mind and decided it was time to go to bed instead. She now looks at that every day so she remembers to give herself a break and go home, instead of working herself too hard.
How many times have we all tried to assuage our own feelings of guilt by recounting all the things we’ve accomplished today, this weekend, or throughout the week, in order to give ourselves permission to rest? We even set goals for ourselves: “If I can just get this finished, I’ll allow myself to go to bed.” What if we instead made rest the priority? “I will get some sleep, and then accomplish what I can tomorrow.”
We live in an era where social media posts remind us to always keep going. “You got this!” is a phrase we hear over and over again. The truth is, we need to allow ourselves the time to let go of a few things, to put down our load, and to put our feet up instead. November is a month in which we are reminded to be grateful and to count our blessings. I think it should be a month in which we count sheep as well. This month, let’s all take some time to take a nap. Or two.
