Rest is Important

There is a Nigerian adage that says “body no be fire wood”. Most of the time, this becomes true when one is stressed-up both physically and mentally, and the need for rest cannot be overemphasized. We all have schedules for our various day-to-day activities; work or play. Some people work so much so that they can hardly spare a minute for rest. Do you find time to rest at all?

I love to work, and sometimes I work to the extent that I don’t remember that there is a thing called rest. I only end up resting when my body demands for it at all cost. A body so starved of rest goes into an auto-breakdown mode, and we start wondering what is wrong with us. Breakdown could be instant for some and gradual for others. Whichever is the case, I know you don’t like the feeling; I don’t either… so why not add rest to your schedules of activities today.

    

We often consider sleep as rest, this may not be far from being correct. I am of the opinion that sleep is just one way to rest (perhaps the no. 1 way to rest). I should emphasize that the quality of sleep a person gets matters a lot. Sleeping for long hours does not amount to quality sleep. Some people sleep for as long as 7 - 10 hours over the night and still wake-up feeling worse than they were before they slept. We should put our body in a mood that allows for a sound sleep or what I would prefer to call a sound night rest. Don’t mind me o, siesta is not in my dictionary, but if it is in yours, good for you. A good nap is useful too when you have time for it.

Rest ultimately is taking timeout. Just like in the game of basketball, a team calls for timeout to enable them take a short rest. Our peculiar situation determines the kind of rest we need to take. We might just need to take a moment timeout, observe our break-time at work, keep our weekend free from engaging activities, observe our work’s annual or casual leave, go on a vacation etc.

What Rest really does to the body (both physical and mental) is to help it recover from wear and tear that happened to the it over the period the body was at work. It helps boasts our body’s immunity and keeps us going.

I target to use my weekends for rest. I never fail to devout at least a full day, either Saturday or Sunday for a comprehensive rest and my creativity and productivity is sharpened for the week that follows (go and ask my boss... lol).

I encourage you to find time to have a quality rest, you will be better for it.