In this day and age, our body, mind, and soul needs the kind of rest that is free from the mindset of over performing, free from keeping up with the façades presented online, free from overall feelings of inadequacy inspired by our inability to commit to the ideals of others. We need the kind of rest that is born in the present and breeds satisfaction; the kind that multiplies our joy and takes us out of the competition.

Today we are talking about the importance of rest for the body, the mind, and the soul, because rest in all three of these areas is vital to the process of coming back from flat.

So often in this day and age people are on a mission to do more and be more. Like the busier we are, the more important we feel; like the more productive we are, the more valuable we seem. We run more errands, do more exercises, accumulate more things. Do and get, do and get.

On top of all of this, many of us are striving to compete with the façades people present online. How many times have we been left with our mouths, literally, open when a couple who appears online to have the perfect life and relationship split up? Meanwhile, we’re over here exhausting ourselves trying to create some semblance of a life that matches up to their magical online image? How defeating is this? To feel like other people can attain this level of so-called happiness but it is unachievable for us?

There is all of this, and then there’s the Pinterest worthy birthday parties for our kids, and the travel magazine worthy vacations and photographs we must take. There is the rescuing of a dog versus the buying of one, and the growing of our own food, as well as the composting of it.

I don’t know about you, but I have never felt so guilty to use a paper towel in my life!

What would happen if we just stopped the hamster wheel?

What would happen if we took a second to acknowledge that we can be some of these things, but that we are not expected to be ALL of these things? We can’t put our energy into EVERYTHING, we need to establish OUR personal thing.

What would happen if we unsubscribed to the overperforming mindset and focused on protecting our body, mind, and soul?

I think I know what happens when we try to stop. We feel guilty, like we’re a bad person, like we’re even letting our generation down.

And, guilt is so huge. Guilt causes us to feel restless and it steals us of our peace. It steals us of our ability to be able to just exist in the present moment, and where are we if we’re not in the present moment?

Come down a rabbit hole with me for a minute. If we are not living right now in this present moment, then we are either living in the past or we are living in the future. Let’s dive deeper on this. A Brazilian motivational speaker by the name Junia Bretas suggests that if our mind is focused on the past, we are living with regret and depression, and if our mind is focused on the future, we are living with worry and anxiety.

In the spirit of helping us to truly rest our body, mind, and spirit, let’s walk through this together. What are we thinking about from the past? Maybe a relationship that ended? Maybe words we’ve spoken that we can’t take back? Maybe a parenting decision? Maybe a job we left? A home we sold or never purchased?

How does it make us feel to focus on these regrets? Does it bring us down? Make us sad? Prevent us from moving forward because we don’t want to feel like this again? But, if this is something that makes us feel so horrible, why are we living in it? Why are we staying there? Why are we wearing our mind out daily with these regrets?