I was taking a personality quiz the other day and as no surprise, I am a perfectionist personality type. I was then reading a post on instagram that talked about my personality type and rest. One of the things I saw was that my personality type has a hard time resting…I ALWAYS find something that needs to be done or can be better.
One reflection question asked “How was rest modeled to you growing up” and I actually laughed out loud. I was NOT raised to rest. I was raised to work and I am damn proud of that. I was raised to work hard, and earn your play time. Rest wasn’t really a part of the equation.
Now, I don’t think that is a bad thing. This is a huge part of who I am and I like who I am. What this means for me is I overdo it constantly, or at least I push myself harder than I should. You don’t have to be a perfectionist to do this. If you’re an achiever, ambitious, independent, or hardworking (I would call myself ALL of those things) you’ve likely put yourself in similar positions as me.
This made me think of a few things and my current mission in life. Over my lifetime, I have LEARNED and been TAUGHT a work ethic which has helped to shape who I am and what I do. Now, I need to TEACH my body how to rest and relax.
I need to get over the feeling that resting means I am quitting or lazy. That is NOT what it means. I am just listening to my body. And guess what, by making the choice to rest and take a break (rather than waiting for my body to quit on me). I AM STILL IN CONTROL. And boy do I want and need that in my life.
So, if rest and taking breaks is hard for you, you’re not alone. If you feel like you need a break and some rest, you’re not lazy. You’re not quitting. If you listen to your body and DECIDE to take a break, you are actually showing that you are in control.