Positivity: Rest
Everybody needs a chance to rest.
Whether it is merely a few minutes, a night, or an extended vacation, rest is essential to our wellbeing. We might have things that need to be done frequently, but we still need to rest and relax from time to time.
Despite negative connotations in the idea of rest, such as slacking off or laziness or other similar perceptions, there is enormous positivity in resting.
Resting allows us to change our focus. Resting allows us to recover from strains physical, mental and/or emotional. Resting gives us a chance to restart, to alter our approach, to examine where we have been, where we are and where we are going.
So how come our society doesn’t seem to like us to rest? I suspect that this is borne of the incessant need to always be productive, to always be doing something, to always be in motion lest we be perceived as inferior, and as such we get passed up or passed by or otherwise fail.
It often feels like our society rewards people who never stop, never slow, never seem to take a break from action. However, we are only human. We all need to take breaks, to collect our thoughts, to rest and recuperate, to take new directions and actions in our lives.
Rest can take any number of forms. A few minutes reading Facebook off your phone at work. A walk outside in the sun. Grabbing coffee and chatting with friends and/or coworkers. Meditating. Falling into your favorite spot on the couch and watching something on TV for a while. Playing a game. Taking a trip to the beach and lying in a hammock with icy beverages for a week. Rest in all of these forms is hugely positive.
It’s important to recognize the difference between rest and distraction. Rest is just that, a break, a pause, time out or time off for a period. Distraction is taking a new action or following a new process that is just a different form of busy work or pseudo-productivity that does not provide the break from stimulus we need for our greater positivity and overall wellbeing.
Nobody can go twenty-four-seven. It’s just not possible, we all need to rest, which is different from sleep. We need breaks that allow us to shift ourselves physically, emotionally and intellectually or some combination of these, and allow ourselves a chance to discover lots of means for positivity.
Rest is good for our health on every level, and should not be something we deny ourselves. We all deserve rest for our wellbeing, and from our wellbeing to build greater positivity in our lives.
Finding positivity is not hard, it just requires action. Knowing that everybody needs to rest, we can seek out and find mean to take these necessary mental, physical and emotional breaks. When we allow ourselves to get rest, whether its short breaks of lengthy vacations, we uncover better means to empower ourselves. When we feel empowered, we often spread that feeling to others around us, and as such can build more positive feelings. We can use the positive feelings this generates to dissolve negative feelings. When we take away negative feelings, we open up space to let in positive feelings, and that is something we can be grateful for. Gratitude leads to happiness. Happiness is the ultimate positive attitude. Positive attitude begets positive energy, and that is always a good thing.
This is the one hundred thirty-third entry of my Positivity series. It is my hope these weekly messages might help spread positive energies for everyone. Feel free to share, re-blog and spread the positivity.
In relation to Positivity, check out my Five Easy Steps to Change the World for the Better.
