Resting vs. Laziness 2023

The last six months of this cycle have been jam-packed with life. As I caught up on some much-needed rest this week, I thought about the differences between being lazy and resting. 

As I look outside my window, I notice the shortened days and the longer nights that signal a time of rest in the plant and animal kingdoms. So why do I think I need to gear up, go full throttle, and keep up a crazy pace? 

I like to check in with myself when my inner voice and my outer life don't line up. Am I running and going nowhere, or am I walking to the nearest exit of a familiar yet strange loop? Am I  caught up in the busyness of seemingly necessary actions rather than the whispers of my heart toward a compelling future? 

There is a third option to moving forward or sliding back. It's called resting, healing, silent contemplation, and listening. So when you find yourself huffing and puffing your way to exhaustion, surrender your load and take a knee, breathe deep and slow,  regain your rhythm, and as sure as spring follows a hard winter when the time is right, you will continue your goals of who you want to be five years from now in love and without fear.  

Resting vs. Laziness

There is virtue in work

virtue in rest

overlook neither.

Stillness does not require busyness 

Resting is not being lazy. It is self-care.

A heart listens

A mind gets tired. 

When you're tired, rest 

give yourself a break.

Know you are not responsible for fixing all things broken.

Know you don't have to please everyone.

Know your baggage seldom matters.

Know you don't have to have everything figured out.

Be kind to yourself, decide

quality over quantity or quantity over quality.

Move slower, be mindful, be nicer to you

heal mentally, emotionally, and physically 

regenerate repair and rebuild. 

In service to others, take care of yourself.

Know what holds you together. 

Know when to catch your breath. 

Know your work-rest balance

commit to your wellness.

Change requires rest.

A calm mind requires rest.

Rest holds space for all you experience.

Celebrate what works and take care of what doesn't.

Change, renew, rejuvenate or harden.

Give yourself a chance by

doing what you love and love what you do.

Permit yourself to rest.