THE POWER OF REST

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass…listening to the murmur of the water.. Is by no means a waste of time 

 

– John Lubbock 

Faith finally decided it was time to take the vacation she had longed for seven years ago — the one she had promised herself but never got around to because of work. 

“Once I get this promotion”, she told herself, but she never got it. 

She was done with Itinike Consulting firm, where she had worked for 10 years. All they ever did was take credit for work she slaved night and day to achieve. First to arrive, last to leave, but little to show for it. They drained her time, her energy, and her peace, giving nothing back in return.

She had never taken leave, not even once. She had to pay for therapy out of pocket — therapy she needed because of a toxic HR and a hostile work environment. And now, they had given the promotion to the newbie. Why? Because they wanted young blood. 

“She would have fresh ideas that would move the company forward, no hard feelings, Faith. Welcome to the corporate world”, they said. 

She turned to the window, hoping to hide her tears, but not fast enough. Kolade already saw them glisten in her eyes. He wanted to reach out, to hold her, to whisper that everything would be okay. But he couldn’t bring himself to say it — because he didn’t believe it. 

This wasn’t the woman he married. 

The constant burnouts had changed her. She was no longer the carefree, mischievous hot babe from Unilag with sparkling eyes and a laugh that turned heads. 

Now, she was his wife — a middle-aged woman with tired eyes, frown lines, and a heavy heart. 

Their marriage was strained. They no longer spent time together. She was married to her job, and he hated it. 

He loved her and loved that she was driven, but he hated that her job had stolen her joy and stolen her from him. He couldn’t stand to see her in pain, so he walked out of the room and went for a drive. 

Faith stared at the door long after Kolade left. She sat there for hours — 6:45 p.m. came, and still, her mind was a storm. 

There was a pounding in her head like a factory was running inside it. Her shoulders felt heavy, like she was carrying the weight of the world. The bags under her eyes looked like the luggage of the vacation she never took. 

Finally, she picked up her phone and called her friend. 

“Kemi,” she whispered, “I think I’m losing my mind, I think I am losing myself, I think… There’s just so much to do.” 

Kemi’s voice was calm. “Faith, you’re overworking yourself. You need to structure rest into your life. You planned to take that vacation seven years ago, remember? You never went. You buried yourself in work, and now every part of your life is paying for it.” 

Faith exhaled, “The world is fast-paced. Fast cars, fast food. Sometimes, I just forget to stop and breathe.”

Kemi replied, “That’s the excuse you always give. So you switch into survival mode, barely floating through life, drowning in deadlines — all to avoid burning out. But guess what? You’re burning out anyway.”

“You forgot to rest. You let life push you around, forgetting that life was made for you to live, not for you to live for it. You forget to breathe.” 

“You say the world is fast, but you keep allowing it to determine your pace. ‘Man must get the bag,’ right? But it keeps you running the rat race, so you forget to be kind to your own body. You fail to realize that it’s the vehicle that carries you to destiny. Or as Jim Rohn once said, It’s the only place you have to live.”

Maybe you are like Faith. Maybe life has been running you instead of you running life. Maybe you’ve been so focused on being productive that you’ve forgotten how to simply be.

Rest is not weakness. 

Rest is not a waste of time. 

Rest is restoration. 

Rest is resistance. 

Rest is sacred. 

Rest is not a luxury. It is your right.

It is okay to be ambitious, but what’s not okay is to lose yourself in the process.  

It is okay to want to have it all, but why can’t rest be one of the things you have? 

Nobody is saying you should leave your dreams and be a sluggard. But, what happens when you can’t chase your dreams because your mind is in turmoil and your body suffers from Infirmities? 

Even God rested on the seventh day. Why shouldn’t you? 

It is okay to stop and breathe.

Featured Image by Nicole x Knox – CHASING WILDFLOWERS — NICOLE X KNOX