We don’t ever want to be accused of being lazy or not pulling our weight. And this forms our work ethic – a willingness to keep showing up and doing what needs to be regardless of how inconvenient it might be otherwise. But good things are often overextended, and this is the case when we start to feel guilty for taking time to rest.
For instance, this might be beating ourselves up for taking a mental break through the work day, or feeling like we don’t deserve a day off or a vacation when there’s still so much work to be done. For some, we’re even hesitant to take time off when we’re sick – even when our body is forcing us to rest we still feel like a failure for not being able to push through it.
Rest is not something we earn. It’s intended to be part of our regular rhythms of life. God rested on the 7th day of creation, and we need these Sabbath rest still today. And our body’s refractory periods after sexual release is another example of how God built in times of rest and recovery into our very being.
As such, we don’t have to feel guilty for taking time to enjoy periods of rest. And certainly, when we’re sick, we don’t have to act like we’re Superman and pretend we’re unaffected. Sometimes getting a cold is our body’s way of forcing us to rest when we refuse to do so otherwise.
Of course, this is not an excuse for laziness, and there will be times we must show up despite not feeling the best. But we’re also not failures when we simply take time to rest.
In the end, work hard and enjoy regular rhythms of rest and recovery. You don’t have to wait until you’re sick before taking time off.
