Pondering Perfection

Rest is a necessity. I have designated Sundays as my day of rest, but Sundays are not always as restful as I would like. On Sunday, my intention was to sit, read, and write. It didn’t exactly work out that way because my normal responsibilities took on extra layers. Some believe that setting intentions is powerful enough to manifest the life you desire. I haven’t exactly mastered that yet…but I’m working on it.

For me, rest and responsibility are in constant tension because several people depend on me, and that makes responsibility feel like the priority every time. In my world, rest can feel like proof that I have neglected something that still needs my attention. The task may get done in the end, but a little piece of me declines each time because it is not being nurtured. Over time, that lack of self-care and rest can be detrimental. I may keep meeting my responsibilities for now, yet slowly lose the energy that makes it possible to keep doing so.

What I’m learning, though, is that rest doesn’t have to be a whole day to matter. Even five minutes of simply breathing can ease mental anguish I didn’t realize I was carrying. It’s a small thing, but it’s a start. And I’m coming to realize something harder to sit with: if I don’t choose to rest now, the choice will eventually be made for me — by my body, my mind, or both.

That is why the idea that you cannot be whole for anyone else if you are not whole for yourself feels both true and painful, because I do not always see how to be both. Rest, then, is not the opposite of responsibility, but the quiet cost of carrying it without enough room to care for myself too.

So I’ll leave you with this: how do you prioritize rest?