Rest, for me, doesn’t come naturally. This may sound ridiculous, but I’ve often approached fatigue as a personal challenge. I think, “I can overcome it, if I just dig a little deeper, push a little harder!!” Well— not really; not indefinitely. It worked for a good while, but at a huge, detrimental cost to my health, and I don’t believe it was worth it.
I am a true believer in the value of rest now, but as my farm crew and family could testify, I’m not always good at applying this belief! 
I’ve finally realized that if I’m going to be consistent, I have to approach rest as a challenge. Challenges motivate me! I love competition, especially with mySELF to see how I can improve. I also LOVE plans, lists, and schedules. So, in the past year I’ve “challenged” myself to schedule in rest times, and to stick to them.
It’s been a far-from-perfect journey, but the afternoons where I put away my phone and played a game with my kids have been priceless. The weeks that I have taken a whole day off to rest with my family were fantastic. The months where I stepped away for a more intense, personal retreat have changed me for the better. I am working WITH the grain of my natural proclivity to perform and achieve to make healthy choices, including choosing to rest. I’m “hacking” my bent towards productivity and pouring my energy into rest as much as I pour it into work, each in its own time.
➡️ Importantly, I’ve stopped viewing rest as a vacuum that occurs in the absence of work, and given it its own place of priority and importance. As my perspective about rest has changed, so has my enjoyment of it, and its efficacy has strengthened. 
Are you planning time to rest? A weekly day off? This seemed a complete fantasy to me, considering the demands of our farm business, but Steve and I figured out the steps we needed to achieve in order to get there, and we made it happen. What could you change, over time? How can you “hack” your own personality and re-train/motivate yourself to treasure rest?
You will never regret choosing to truly rest. We were MADE to rest, just as we were made to work.

{Photo @pearlphotographybyelena}