The [Adventure] That is Rest

[Adventure 345]

I'm not good at rest. 

I spend a lot of time in bed, but I don't seem to be resting while I'm there. I'm usually online doing volunteer work for one group or another. Or painting. Or writing. Or researching medications and treatments or planning or spending hours on hold with doctor's offices, insurance, and other places. I am neither ceasing from motion and labor nor being free from anxiety or disturbance. 

Rest does not come easy to me. 

Many times, I'm sitting, working, exhausted but fighting sleep to get things done.

But this Advent, I'm seeking real stillness, real rest.

If I'm tired, I lay down and watch a movie or read a book or close my eyes and welcome sleep. If there's something that absolutely needs to be done during that time, I ask for help or delegate. More often than not, though, things can wait. 

I find other times to rest as well. I've become good at waiting in the van while my children go to appointments, run into the store ... anytime I'm waiting for them. I put on some music or a podcast or NPR and recline my seat a bit and close my eyes. I choose to be still and enjoy the moments of relative peace. 

When all else fails, I find thirty seconds to take some deep breaths and either close my eyes or enjoy whatever view is around me...whether I'm pumping gas or waiting in line or in a waiting room or on hold.

Even when life seems overly hectic, there is always time to find rest.