How you arrive, matters.
One of my favorite quotes ever, is “Rest is productivity.” I am not sure where i found it, I just remember scrolling through social media one day, coming across it, and recalling how deeply it resonated with me.
I have always been a very goals driven gal. All my life, I have been certain that I was meant to do “something”, that would be impactful and fulfilling. So throughout my life, I have felt the “pressure” of my future goals, weighing down on me, and dictating my movements. But even as I journeyed towards my dreams, somehow the thought of sacrificing the quality of my life in pursuit of it, never seemed to fit quite right. Despite my relentless future self nagging me to keep going, simply arriving at the destination was just never enough, how I arrived mattered to me.
And in our very fast-paced world, where the hustle and grind is so frequently advertised as the seeds of success, I always wondered how I could claim to be ambitious, when I prioritized ease and rest as much I did. Sometimes, I would define the moments I needed to take time away from the grind, as a signifier of my laziness. “A real goal getter does not sleep”. “A true successful person, will rest only when they get to their destination.” And then I would push myself, as hard as I could. I would overexert myself, and immediately become so exhausted, that even the mere thought of my dreams, felt like a huge nagging burden hanging over my head. It made me realize how much prioritizing the destination of a dream, over the journey took so much away from enjoying my life, making it so much harder to keep going. It made me a victim of my own dreams, rather than a partner of it.
A relationship that takes labour, effort and energy from you, with a promise of a reward only at the end, has always struck me as an unfair deal. I wanted to pour into my dreams, and not only wait until the end of the story to reap my rewards. I wanted a life where I could put in effort towards my dreams, and rest and enjoy the work I had done thus far. A journey I was in control of, so much so that I could pause and ask myself if I still loved the direction I was going. And If I no longer felt inspired, could stop, rest and pivot towards other goals that energized me. And perhaps after feeling rested and refreshed, even restart a paused dream, now wiser, with more lessons, experience and ideas under my belt to guide me.
Looking at the journey, as the self written adventure it was always meant to be, made my dreams so much more exciting to keep pursuing. It made time no longer a daunting ticking countdown, but just a peaceful companion along the way. And I am so happy to finally be in this space.
I know now that putting myself through so much self imposed stress to achieve success, would be counterproductive. Because how much could I truly love and enjoy a dream that cost me my peace, balance and health? Would it even be worth it at the end?
Many of us are raised to believe that rest is a hindrance to progress. On the contrary, I know now that prioritizing rest is a powerful tool that enhances our overall well-being and propels us in a much healthier way towards success. Because how you arrive, always matters a whole lot more than just reaching the destination.
