Rest isn’t a reward
Maybe it’s the warm summer weather. Maybe it’s a leftover from long school holidays.
But it’s the end of July, and I’m struggling to keep motivated.
I know that I’m not alone.
A couple of friends have mentioned how they’re in need of a break (well, it is prime holiday season), and I’m about to take a staycation myself (full of sleeping, sewing, and reading - bliss).
As I wind down despite my incomplete to-do list, I’ve become aware of a particular unconscious belief around rest. It was laid out for me in my latest copy of Psychologies Magazine in a dossier about pressing pause for the summer:
“Rest has been misbranded.
We’ve come to treat it as a reward, something earned through exhaustion or squeezed in when we can find time.
But from a biological point of view, rest isn’t optional. It’s a survival mechanism, hardwired into the way our bodies and brains stay balanced, focused, and well.”
Given I’ve had twenty years of having to rest more than most people (yay, chronic illness), it may surprise you to hear that I still wrestle with this one.
(What can I say? It’s hard not to internalise society’s messages even when you know they’re bad for you. It’s like trying to avoid air pollution or microplastics; that shit still ends up in your bloodstream.)
While I’m getting better at noticing the difference between rest and recovery, I read the above lines and thought,
“Well darn; maybe that’s why I often add the things I’ve accomplished when I write my nightly gratitudes.
Perhaps it’s responding to an unconscious question: Have I done enough to rest now?”
(Yeah. Ouch.)
Again, I don’t think I’m alone in this.
And it’s not the only way I operate. Just this afternoon, after writing my opening lines, I realised that I needed to rest in order for me to carry on a few hours later - making rest a part of my process.
But yeah. If you’re feeling guilty about not being productive right now, I hear you.
And maybe, just maybe, we don’t need to deserve taking a break.
