Written By Tabatha Perry

How to Not Run on Fumes in Life

I want to give you some tools on how to embrace rest and incorporate it into your life. 

I'm all about making small edits in life to move me forward, so here are a few edits you can consider when deciding if you're going to allow yourself to rest. Because really it is just a decision. 

But decisions can feel heavy, especially when we've made 10,000 decisions that day already. Rest can almost feel like just another heavy decision to make too. 

But the truth is, we're finite beings. 

We have limits and we get to decide if we want to run on fumes or have a full tank and be ready to go! 

We know how unhealthy it is to drive our vehicles around without gas…

WE STOP. 

We can't go anymore. 

We breakdown.

Sometimes we even breakdown in the middle of a busy street, so not only are we not doing well, we’re affecting others around us. 

Yes, you should want to rest for your own wellbeing, but honestly, if it takes thinking about your loved ones and the people who rely on you and how it affects them, when you're driving around like a crazy person on fumes, it may motivate you to intentionally stop and rest and not be forced to eventually, because you run out of gas. 

Because you will. 

Eventually you'll stop. 

I've personally experienced this several times in my life. 

I kept telling myself, "I'm fine, this is fine. It could be worse." I kept operating from survival mode and when we operate from that mode, there is no rest. I had to acknowledge what I was doing to my mind and body running on fumes. 

So, with all that said, I want to share edits to make in your mindset and life to incorporate more rest. Because it's not just about you, it's also about those around you too.

Edits to Relax, Refresh, and Recover

  1. Be intentional about the outcome you want

    • Are you wanting to RELAX- becoming less tense or anxious, be REFRESHED- giving new strength and energy, OR RECOVER- return to a normal state of health

      • Do you need to distract yourself from problems?

      • Do you need to feel refreshed and ready to dive back into life?

      • Do you need to calm your anxiety?

      • Do you need to feel soothed and comforted?

  2. Schedule a generous amount of time to rest-

    • You don’t want to use scheduling to restrict yourself; use it to protect your time. For example, if you know in your heart of hearts you really want a whole day on the couch doing nothing but marathoning your fave show, give yourself permission to do just that from the beginning. Don’t block off an hour of time in hopes it’ll magically make you need less time unwinding and then beat yourself up when you inevitably press “Next Episode” over and over, anyway. Just be generous

  3. Enjoy pockets of rest throughout the week

    • Do fun activities throughout the week, so you don't wind up feeling guilty because you've binged instead of doing it enough to really enjoying them. I totally do this, I'll restrict my fun reading or not let myself watch a show until "I earn it", but then it leads to binging. Really restrictive behavior actually works against our rest.  So try sprinkling some of the activities you usually save for the weekend throughout the week instead and see how that works for you.

  4. Establish rituals to get into the mood of rest

    • rituals are actually super helpful when it comes to telling your brain it’s time to get out of work mode and into rest mode.

      • Bedtime Routine

      • After Work

      • After an over-stimulating experience

  5. You don’t have to earn rest

    • making rules around when we’ve “earned” a break is an easy way to work too much and rest too little.When you decide that rest is something you must earn, it’s really, really difficult to feel “deserving” of it. So instead of thinking of rest as a luxury that you only deserve after an accomplishment, try reminding yourself rest is necessary. Our brains need downtime. Biologically, physiologically, rest is a necessity.”

  6. Rest isn’t about not having any stressors

    • it’s about creating moments when you’re putting your stressors temporarily on hold and setting boundaries so you don’t have to engage with all your responsibilities.

  7. Going to Jesus-

    •  He is the Prince of Peace and has given us the Holy Spirit to empower us to rest and to work hard. If you're needing rest and are having a difficult time, there may be a spiritual bondage preventing you from moving forward. Ask God to break it and allow you to experience His true peace. Even if you're not sure you believe in God or maybe you're mad at him, He still wants to offer his peace and rest. In Jesus' words "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." I suggest going to Him first, because nothing else will work until you surrender your weariness and stress to him. He's got you!

Bonus: REST AUDIT- What’s your relationship with rest? What does rest feel/sound/look like for you? When have you experienced true rest in your life? When have you felt the most rested? What activities did you do that resulted in feeling rested?

Tabatha Perry
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