Rest, Rest, Rest.

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 So today is simply a day of encouragement.  It is a day to remind yourself that you are deserving, you are special, you are magnificent, and you are a divine creation, with all the promises of the Creator coming to you.  There are days when we simply need to be reminded of things that somehow take a backseat to our awareness due to circumstances that we find ourselves in from time to time.  There are days when things seem impossible.  There are days when we don't know left from right, up from down, good from bad.  Often these days blend into one another, but this is the time when we need to find that time just to rest.  Turn off the radio, the television, step out into the night, take off your shoes and simply stand on the grass and soak up the earth's energy.  If your idea of relaxing is sitting on a beach, reading a good book, soaking up the sun, then do it.  If circumstances will not allow it at the moment, then simply visualize it, feel what it would be like to be sitting on the beach, and smile and accept those feelings of rest and relaxation.  Granted thinking about a beach and actually being on the beach is different, but believe you me, the results will be the same as unlikely as that might seem.  That unfortunately is a discussion for another day, and one that I assure you we will be having.

Why is rest so important? Well, let me ask you this, why is air so important? Water? Food? We need air, food , and water to survive, and no one in their right mind would question this.  Rest is just as important to living, to surviving, to moving ahead with those things destined for you.  We've all heard of people burning the candle at both ends, and we all know the results of doing that.  You can only go at warp speed for so long before everything around you comes to screeching halt, or comes crashing down around you.  There is not a single successful person that has not faced failure in one form or another.  There is not one person alive or dead for that matter who has not faced death, or will face death at some point, can't change that.  Well there is not one person who will ever be what they were intended to be if they do not find time to rest, time to relax, and time to simply let go of everything from time to time.

So what is rest?  Is it simply laying on a beach on a beach chair watching the waves come in?  Is it floating on a boat on a quiet lake?  ls it watching your favorite movie, with a bowl of popcorn, and your dogs or cats sitting on your lap?  I could describe a thousand and one things that could be classified as rest, but it all comes down to what brings you to this place of rest.  For me, I'm resting right now as I write this.  My dogs are laying quietly in my home office with me, well quietly most of the time, and I am loving every minute of writing this blog this morning.  I'm not thinking about the power bill, what to make for dinner, or what the next week is going to involve.  I'm not focused on what task to get to next on the never ending list of task to do.  No, I am simply focused on writing this, and nothing more.  Rest is focusing on the task at hand of doing absolutely nothing, and loving it.  Rest is the absence of stress, the absence of worry, and the ability to block out those things that want to zap your energy.  

We have to make time to rest. As an example:  I always take the summer months off from writing. Beginning in June and going through the end of August, I don't write.  I accept no speaking engagements, well an occasional interview I'll do, but other than that, nothing.  Why?  I need time to recharge.  I need time to simply be a bump on a log, and do as little as possible. It's not that I don't love writing, or that it becomes such a strain on me, not at all, I just need time away from those things so I can bring the best each time I do the things I love.  When things become a task, and not a love, you have issues.  Look at your profession and ask yourself this question:  am I able to give 100 percent, and love every minute of it?  Now if you asked this question to 1000 individuals what do you think the answer would be?  No matter what you do for work, no matter what you have achieved thus far, no one can continue forever without resting from time to time.  Those who feel that they can go on forever are only fooling themselves, and the time will come when everything around them will come crashing down because they never found the time to simply rest.  

So why am I bringing up the topic of rest today?  Every now and again when I sit down to write I have to really let go of everything and simply clear my mind in order to hear the direction I need to go in.  This morning I was sitting here, and the direction I thought I was going to go in, was in fact just the opposite of what I now find myself writing about.  I began to practice what I preach, and I simply quieted my mind, took several deep breaths, and began to rest. Well what do you know, rest, rest, rest, was all I got, and being Captain Obvious I had no other choice other than write about rest.  I can not stress enough the importance of you taking the time to simply lay down everything, and find that place of rest.  This place could be a million different things, but in the end the results will be the same.  Trust me, rest is what will keep you sane, it will keep you at peace, and quite frankly it will keep you young.  

We spend so much time trying to be what we are supposed to be, or what we believe we are supposed to be, and instead of simply being, we are always doing.  We do one thing to become something.  We look here to go there.  We move in one direction to get where we believe we need to be.  We are always on the go.  We never stop.  Trust me, it's only a matter of time until everything, and I do mean everything, will come crashing down around you.  Rest is not something that we hope for, it is something that you are going to have to make time for.  If it is go, go, go at all times, if it is non-stop "I have to get here", you will get to the point where you won't even enjoy the end result when, or if you get it.  I cannot emphasize enough the importance of you taking care of yourself and finding that time to rest.  I may be those deep breaths you take while driving to your next destination.  Rest might come in the form of simply pulling up to your favorite coffee shop and sneaking that donut that everyone says you should not have.  Rest might be snuggles with your pet on a Saturday morning, when you know the list of things to do today is as long as your arm.  Trust me, taking an extra five or ten minutes to simply love the snuggles is not going to mean the end of the world.  

Rest is taking the pressure off of you, if only for a few minutes during the day.  Rest is recognizing that you are worth the time to be or step away from, everything and anything, that keeps you from peace.  Trust me when I say this: a life void of rest is a life void and absent of peace.  A life absent of peace is a life absent of joy, happiness, and why in the world would you want that?  I encourage you to find the time to rest.  Find the time to recharge your batteries.  Find the time as they say to simply "smell the coffee".  There are so many people who will never ever experience the true happiness of life because they are so busy seeking after happiness.  Happiness does not come from exerting effort, happiness comes from recognizing who and what you are.  Find time to rest, and in that rest happiness thrives.  Find time to rest, and in that rest growth comes.  Find time to rest, and in that rest you find in yourself the things that the world needs, and that only you can bring to it.  Find rest my friends, and know that only good can come from it.