Rest

Rest – what does it mean? 

It’s not necessarily relaxation, which implies a purposeful action as in, “I’m off to meditate now to try and relax”, or the idea that you must achieve relaxation before you move on to something else.

On the other hand, you can have a rest at any time of day; the rest can be a ‘little rest’ or a ‘long rest’, and it usually happens in the midst of some activity or other.

I like to have a rest most afternoons, sometimes in my chair while I read or watch TV, and sometimes I lie on the bed and read. 

To me, a rest is a quiet interlude, preferably lying down, wherein I can do something else like reading or writing and know that I will be rested and refreshed when I get up. 

Sometimes I feel the need for a much needed rest and if I cannot achieve this I find myself becoming fuzzy-headed and short tempered. 

I have often found that I  fall asleep when I have a ‘rest’ and then sleep too long and wake up feeling quite thick-headed and dopey. The feeling persists for some time after I wake, and I curse myself for sleeping too long as I know it  will be hard to go to sleep in the evening.

I sometimes want a break from an intensive situation with lots of talk and noise which exacerbate my feelings of introversion and so feel I need a rest. If I can get away and have some quiet time (whether I am able to lie down or not), I know that in a half hour or so I can return to the situation better able to cope. 

I am convinced that being able to retreat or regroup (and rest!) is preferable to remaining in a stressful situation where my coping skills would be tested to the extreme.

(Sunday scribbling blog #306:

You can take this in one of two ways. You can tell us the rest of the story or you can talk about much needed rest.)

 13.3.12 (Timer set for 20 minutes)