Burnout is not a crown, rest is not a reward.
During my childhood, I would often hear my parents and teachers constantly motivate me with quotes like ‘Keep putting in the hard work, don’t stop until you reach your goal’
‘Be that girl who never stops working hard. Stay up a little late, wake up early for better grades and never stop. ‘
‘Stop only when you feel proud of yourself’.
Well, as an adult I don’t quite agree with it.
To achieve great things, we need to invest time, energy and sacrifice on a few things. Constant hard work is required to achieve our goals. While all of this is true, do you think it’s fair to say ‘rest only when your target is complete’? Why is it achievement or rest, why not achievement and rest ?
In recent times, I feel the hustle culture is romanticised. There’s a whole group of population who take pride in working non stop to achieve their goal. They also expect others to work that way. Working without a break is seen as a badge that people wear with glory, as a sign of an accomplishment.
Let us consider a few situations. A car when it’s almost draining out, what do we do? We fuel it. What about our gadgets? When our laptop, mobile is running out on energy, we immediately plug to charge it. Machines and electronic equipment need to recharge its battery to revive and function well and you think, we as living beings need to “earn” rest ? Well,not only is this culture highly draining, it could eventually lead to long term repercussions like anxiety, chronic fatigue, burn outs, depression et cetera.
Rest is a basic human need. Your body,mind and soul require rest to replenish, rejuvenate and recharge.
I mean, come on , we are called human BEINGS and not human DOINGS for a reason.
I’m going to say it loud and clearly again, you deserve rest wholeheartedly and unconditionally. You need not ‘prove’ yourself to earn rest. You simply deserve it :)
It’s also important to understand that rest need not necessarily look like 20 hours of slumber. Rest could also mean
- Watching your favourite series/ movie
- Reading your favourite book
- Practising your hobby such as painting, cooking, dancing
- Meeting a friend who makes you feel great
- Going out to eat at your favourite restaurant
- Or simply just doing nothing
You could also consider
- An hour in a day just for yourself to journal, meditate or read a book.
- A day in a week to plan something outdoor with friends/ family/ just by yourself
- Couple of days every 2 months to explore a completely new city.
So, instead of investing all our time in thinking about figuring out our whole life and just stacking up work, let’s take a moment to make space for rest on our to- do list, shall we ?
I’m sure your body, mind and soul will thank you if you choose to implement it. So can we cut out the hustle culture and say yes to working hard to achieve our goals and giving ourselves well deserved rest? :D
Thank you for taking your time to read my blog. I hope it helped.
I would really appreciate it if you could share the article with your friends,family or anyone whom you think this would help.
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Sending good vibes
- Amrutha Reshi
