There’s a story I heard years ago that has stayed with me. When I was in graduate school, a woman moving into the hostel tried to finish everything in a single day. She sorted boxes, arranged furniture, cleaned—nonstop.
Despite the school administrator urging her to stop and even offering her the option to spend the night at home if she couldn’t finish moving in that day, she refused to pause. She kept going and going.
Then the unthinkable happened: she suffered a cardiac arrest and died on the spot. She was gone—because she could not leave anything for tomorrow.
That story hit me hard.
I recognize myself in her. I’m the person who wants to complete every single task in a day. I don’t like leaving things for tomorrow. I thrive on accomplishment: doing, finishing, then doing more. Rest used to feel like a myth to me.
Gradually, though, I’ve been learning the power of rest. I’ll admit I’m not perfect—sometimes I lie on the couch scrolling through comments and call it rest. Fake rest. But I’ve been reading and listening to materials that emphasize how essential real rest is, and it’s changing how I live.
“Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.” Exodus 20:9-10 (ESV)
Rest is one of the earliest practices God established in Scripture: after creating the world in six days, God rested on the seventh and instructed His people to follow that rhythm. Every six days of work deserves a day of rest.
If we work non-stop, we eventually crash. Continuous work leads to overwhelm, burnout, and sometimes to abandoning the very work we love because we never replenish ourselves. That’s why rest must be built into our routines.
Recently I took a two-week break from the blog. It was difficult—my work is often the first thing on my mind each morning—so during those two weeks I kept thinking I should be writing, cooking, photographing, and testing recipes. My body, however, was telling me to stop. I resisted at first, so I didn’t even announce the break, worrying that I might fail to keep it.
It was a struggle between “keep working” and “let yourself rest.” In the end, I’m glad I had the courage to step away. My one regret is not telling my followers I’d be gone for a bit.
When my break ended I felt recharged and motivated. I returned to work eager and full of energy. That’s the point: even when we do work we love, we need deliberate downtime, or we risk growing to resent what once brought us joy.
Make rest part of your schedule. Plan days when you deliberately do nothing work-related. Hard work is rewarding—be diligent, disciplined, and excellent. Strive to improve and give your best. But every so often, press pause. Do it intentionally: take a day off, sleep, play games, read an engaging book, watch a movie, or simply do what relaxes you without pressure. After that, return to your work refreshed and ready to perform at your best.
I’ll share a short poem from my daughter’s lesson that captures the idea:
Work while you work
Play while you play.
One thing each time,
That is the way.
All that you do,
Do with your might.
Things done by halves
Are not done right.
Now I’d love to hear from you: what’s your approach to rest? Do you take days off regularly? Is rest part of your life, and what activities do you choose to recharge? Please share your experience.
