The Courage to Rest

Before I begin about our episode, I want to ask people three questions.

Have you ever felt like your life became one long list of of responsibilities? And have you ever felt that you had to earn the right to rest? That relief would only come after everything was finished? I mean, how many people right now are resonating with those two questions? And what if our families, our workplaces, and even our society have unintentionally, and maybe even sometimes intentionally, taught us That exhaustion is something to admire instead of something to heal.

Because today, I want us to explore that idea because I believe and I think that many of us have confused surviving with living.

See, what happens when survival becomes our identity? Somewhere along the way, many of us have stopped living and started carrying, carrying responsibilities, carrying expectations, carrying everyone else's needs, carrying trauma, and carrying the belief that being dependable, that being accountable means never slowing down.

Hell, being responsible, never slowing down.

If you've experienced trauma, you've probably become incredible with being capable, accountable, and responsible.

People often describe trauma survivors as resilient and, yeah, reliable, strong, dependable, always someone that they can count on, the person who always gets it done.

But sometimes those compliments become cages.

We begin believing our value comes from how much we can carry, right? What's that phrase, you know? What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Or, oh, you know what? If it wasn't for your trauma, you know, you wouldn't be this strong.

Or your trauma made you stronger.

That one, that one I don't like.

Your trauma made you stronger.

No, I didn't have a fucking choice.

There was no choice.

And people will disagree and say there's always a choice.

No.

You either survive or you don't.

Period.

I needed to pause there for a second.

Getting myself all worked up doing this podcast episode.

See, yes, I'm going to go back to the Greeks.

The Greek philosopher Aristotle believed that the highest good was an endless productivity.

And I'm not going to get the pronunciation right, okay? So for all my family out there in Greece and all my Greek friends, you know what? Give me a little bit of grace here.

It was eudaimonia, living a flourishing life filled with purpose, virtue, and meaning.