Are you feeling exhausted from Christmas and New Years?
We all experience many different emotions throughout the holidays, and I think one of the most common is feeling physically and emotionally drained by the end of all the festivities, especially for those introverts like myself.
I stumbled upon this passage from Matt Haig’s book The Comfort Book and thought it might provide some comfort to those feeling exhausted like me.
“You don’t need to be busy. You don’t need to justify your existence in terms of productivity. Rest is an essential part of survival. When a dog lies in the sun I imagine it does it without guilt, because as far as I can tell dogs seem to be in tune with their own needs.”
Rest is good
This is a message I needed to hear. I think what Haig is saying is dogs can be a lot more in tune with their need for rest while we as humans keep on pushing ourselves without giving our minds and bodies the rest we desperately need.
I believe in being productive and hard work. But I believe we need to be in tune with our body’s need for rest. We need time for a nap or to lay in the sun. To sit and read a book without the feeling like we must be more productive.
I needed to hear this too from Haig:
“Just as we need pauses between notes for music to sound good, and just as we need punctuation in a sentence for it to be coherent, we should see rest and reflection and passivity — and even sitting on the sofa — as an intrinsic and essential part of life that is needed for the hole to make sense.”
Haig is saying we need rest to absorb all the activities and emotions in our lives and to reflect on them to make sure that our lives are making sense
Rest is doing
So I am giving you permission to rest. Rest is a form of doing. It allows our minds and bodies to recharge to be more productive — so take a cue from your dog or cat and snuggle up with them or a loved one and enjoy reading a book.
Listen to a song. Watch a movie. Eat pie. Or breath deeply and do nothing.
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Previously Published on medium
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The post You Don’t Need to Be Busy All the Time. Don’t Forget To Rest. appeared first on The Good Men Project.
