Episode 49: Rest

Hello my friends, welcome to episode 49. Today I want to talk about rest. Now I know that there are times and seasons in our agricultural worlds when rest doesn’t seem possible. We call these times harvest, fall run, calving, planting, and a host of other names. But because we don’t think rest is possible in these busy times we don’t even make time for it in our non-busy seasons. We see this pattern in executives, support staff, and entrepreneurs, it seems that our world has forgotten the need for rest. It seems that when we get an opportunity for a break we immediately feel like we are not being productive, we are not engaged, we can not stand the boredom, and our minds run wild with the things that went wrong or should have gone better so we immediately throw ourselves into the next project to avoid all of these feelings.

But have often heard that the best ideas come out of boredom, so what are we losing out on by not being willing to engage in rest?

We live our lives in this exhausted state of mind. Wishing for rest but are generally not able to create the rest that we crave.  Why do we wish for something that when offered to us we seem to avoid? Why is rest something that seems so elusive for many of us in this industry? Why do we think that rest is not possible?

I recently was talking with my psychologist and she said to me that I needed to rest. I asked her how? How do I rest? In the context of the situation, I could not come up with any ideas of where I could rest – it genuinely wasn’t even an option in my brain. I assume that this topic may be the same for each of you. We discussed a 10 min walk, 3 deep breaths, and a body scan. These simple techniques are not time-consuming, and truly rest doesn’t have to be time-consuming but we have to believe that rest is possible before we will even try to rest.

I recently came across an Instagram post and searched it to a blog post by Stephanie Barron Hall. It was entitled 9 types of rest.

It outlined 9 types of rest that we will discuss 4 of them today and the rest next week. I realized that when we are wanting rest, sometimes we are wanting a completely different type of rest than we have ever contemplated. We seek rest, but we don’t seek the kind that helps us we seek the only kind that we know. So I want to you consider each of these types and think about simple ways to create this type of rest in your life and then go try them. We must experiment to find the type of rest you are needing. 

1.      time away: vacation, sleep. I think this might be the only type of rest we are familiar with and it’s the one that we just can’t make time for. The vacations – we get sick on them, the planning is so stressful, we end up working part of them, or they just don’t happen. Sleep is also illusive – family, cows needing to be checked, our bodies just won’t sleep. But what if time away was more than just vacation or sleep? What if we made time away for a short walk, turning off our cell phone for a meal, eating out, or eating at home means rest? How could you create 5-10 mins of time away in your life today?

2.      permission to not be helpful: think about it. What if you didn’t have to solve the problem? What if you didn’t have to run in and be the hero? What if you could step back, and let others solve their own problems? What if you didn’t have to give up your plans to adjust to someone else’s want? I just see so many of us exhausted, we have no boundaries, we think that we have to solve all the problems that come up, and we think that others’ ways are not as good as ours so we must do it. But all of that is made up. Sure there may be some problems others need your help with but what if you let them try on their own or with limited help for a while? What if it was ok to not be helpful? Not be the hero? Let them solve their own problems, Let them grow through the struggle. You have permission to not be helpful, especially when being helpful is depleting your resources and you need rest to replenish them.

3.      something “unproductive”: who determines what is productive or not? Productive is a made-up construct yet it’s a very high standard that we often hold ourselves. Give yourself time to just enjoy something to enjoy it. Not because it will make you money. Not because it will serve any higher purpose but just because you want to do it. What is that unproductive thing you need to make time for?

4.      appreciating art and nature: This is one of my favorite types of rest and one that I find the most nourishing to my soul. The public library in my town has a craft night each week. I attend as often as I can – creating is in line with my values and rests my soul. Being with others, seeing the differences in each art piece we make, and learning new art skills are restful for me. I don’t get a lot of time for wandering through museums but when given the opportunity I love it. And nature – this I make a lot of time for. I am always amazed at how much better I feel after a 20 km hike to the top of one of our mountains or into a lake. The hard physical work and the time in nature seem to help me mentally more than anything. My favorite kind of active rest and one that I particularly need regularly!

Contemplate these types of rest.

Do any of them feel more like rest to you?

Do any of them seem impossible?

Try to do one thing to rest this week.

Practice resting.

It will be fun.

Have a wonderful week.