Let Yourself Rest

Let Yourself Rest by Jeff Foster

If you’re exhausted, rest.

If you don’t feel like starting a new project, don’t.

If you don’t feel the urge to make something new, 

just rest in the beauty of the old, the familiar, the known.

If you don’t feel like talking, stay silent.

If you’re fed up with the news, turn it off.

If you want to postpone something until tomorrow, do it.

If you want to do nothing, let yourself do nothing today.

Feel the fullness of the emptiness, the vastness of the silence, 

the sheer life in your unproductive moments.

Time does not always need to be filled.

You are enough, simply in your being. 

This poem speaks to me, especially after a busy week. It may evoke a familiar feeling that many of us face: the fear of slowing down and falling behind. Yet, it also offers an invitation—to listen to our bodies, honor their cues and provide the rest they crave.

As we navigate active lives, we often override the messages our bodies send us. However, as the poem suggests, our bodies have multiple ways of signaling when it is time to pause.

As we approach the weekend, I invite you to reflect on your own relationship with rest. Are you allowing yourself the time and space required to recharge? As you plan your weekend activities, how much rest do you think you might need, and how can you plan it, just as you would schedule coffee with a friend?