A time for rest

Rest.

A word that used to come so easy when my summer days were filled with lounging by the pool and my only worry was what shade of brown I could achieve by the end of summer. It brings me back to the lazy weekends when rest was like second nature and required no thought. Add on about 15 years and now that four letter word almost seems fictional. Like some kind of bucket list item that’s hard to obtain, especially in this fast paced world. A world that has so many “priorities” vying for our attention. We’re striving, doing, achieving, and making zero time for simply being.

Does it have to be so hard? So seemingly impossible to squeeze in?

Just a few weeks ago as I packed my bags for Florida I had two priorities in mind. Rest and exercise. My mind and my body were crying out. My soul was aching for clarity and my mind was begging to be slowed down. We’ve had a whirlwind of a few months in the Illy household and somehow it seems like we went to sleep around Christmas and woke up somewhere in spring. (Although Mother Nature seems to be in that same slumber) Life is passing us by at a rapid rate and I knew if was time that I needed a breather and a chance to take inventory.

Without space to think, dream and pray it’s easy to just get caught up in going with the flow of everyday life with little thought of purpose, and no time for dreaming up what’s next.

So if you’re wondering why it’s been eerily quiet around here it’s because I’ve been doing just that. I’ve penciled in moments of just sitting and being. Dreaming and planning. I can’t function without the space to let my mind wonder. I needed a moment. A breather.

So while you’re cleaning out your closets and sprucing up your home this spring, I challenge you to clean out the cluttered calendar and create some space for yourself. Your “me” time might not come in the form of a getaway, but rather consecutive date nights with the bubble bath. Or maybe your quiet space is heading to a coffee shop or a park while the kids are at school? Your “breather” might be in the stillness of the morning while the rest of the house is fast asleep? Don’t let the guilt of not being busy keep you from achieving this much needed rest. It’s time for you to create space for yourself to just simply be.