Have you found time for rest and leisure this Summer?
The longest day of the year has already passed us by and when we might find ourselves looking out dreamily at the sunshine (or the rain!) we could be tempted to ask ourselves a few questions about our attitude to the topic of rest and leisure. Have you ever asked yourself “what value do I place on rest and leisure? How do I rest? Do I rest?”
By rest I don’t mean lying about doing nothing or frittering away the time on things that are meaningless. Real rest and leisure involve taking time out from our usual activities and mindset and restoring our mental and physical energies.
Rest is not laziness; it is wisdom and empowerment
The classical Greek scholars used the word schole to denote leisure time. Unlike today's idea of idleness, or simply doing nothing, leisure meant time devoted purposefully to personal growth, self-discovery, and reflection. Leisure offered an opportunity to explore and deepen our understanding of the universe.
Plato embraced the idea of rest for the body and soul not as an end, but as a pause that restored the person and prepared them for higher activity. He associated rest with cosmic harmony - a place where the body and soul find balance. Seneca held the belief that true leisure is philosophical engagement and not sloth.
So, for the Greeks, leisure and rest are not passive, they involve thinking, learning, and living well. Rest isn't laziness; it’s renewal and nourishment. Just as our bodies need food, our souls require reflective opportunities away from screens and time constraints to reconnect with the world around us.
Rest is not a reward but a requirement for a better life
When we are giving of ourselves to others all the time, we need to fill that space with fruitful rest and leisure time. You can’t pour from an empty cup, especially if it is filled with burnout. Remember even our phones recharge!
We need to slow down in order to speed up later on. And we need to create spaces in our day away from performing, controlling, and doing if we are to offer others that support they need. People need us to rest! Rest nourishes our creativity and enables us to maintain better relationships. Rest and leisure renew us mentally, emotionally, and physically and help us see things more clearly. We’re better able to prioritise things and maintain a firmer focus on our goals when we rest and engage in leisure activities.
How can we rest more wisely this Summer?
This summer, let rest and leisure be your doorway back to what matters most – inner healing, walking in truth, freedom, and joy. Affirming constantly the importance of rest and leisure for ourselves and others can be challenging - especially if we’re not used to slowing down - but with patience and a steady perseverance we can improve.
Here are some practical tips we can use to help us:
Take time out from the phone for a leisurely walk a few times in the week.
Stand back from things, slow down and read a good book.
Set boundaries, and this might mean saying no to ourselves and our own rigid schedules.
Carve out spaces in the day where we stop and enjoy nature and God’s creation and give thanks for it.
Every week, engage in some kind of activity that generates joy for us such as dancing, swimming or practising a hobby we like.
Rest restores rhythm to the body
Think of music. The pauses and silence between the notes are just as important as the music itself. Our times of rest and leisure do not have to be extraordinary things or expensive vacations. A short walk on a beach, or a simple meal with a good friend. A few days break with people we love and who love us. Time spent close to nature and time reading a good book. All these are ways that can help us regain that vitality and creativity that energises us.
Rediscover rest, not as a guilty pleasure or just a pause in the day, but as a way of making our lives more powerful and effective. We need to fight the fear and the lie that keeps telling us “busyness” is necessary and inspiring. Rest helps us face ourselves better and live our life with more honesty and ultimately, good rest and leisure helps us be more productive. Let’s finish with this quote from Ferris Bueller and his famous day off, “life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
