Quest for Rest

I am a 7 on the Enneagram. A quick google search depicts that as “The Busy, Fun-Loving Type: Spontaneous, Versatile, Distractible, and Scattered”. Sounds accurate. I love being in the middle of action and fun. If there isn’t any fun around me, I tend to create it. I love laughing, being silly, and getting adventurous. If someone says, “Do you want to go…” I say yes. I remember always jumping in the car with my mom anytime she left the house (sorry mom - I bet you wanted some alone time!) I am confident this came from the desire to go and do and stay busy. I have always wanted more. Things like slowing down, being quiet, finding stillness, etc. was somewhat of a foreign concept for me.

We live in a society driven by going fast and being busy. We get impatient waiting for a website to load or in waiting for the next show to play. We want instant food and complain when it takes a while to get it. We run ourselves ragged at work — hustle, hustle, hustle — work, work, work. We wear it as a badge of honor — “I’m doing great! SO busy!” For me, this was killing my soul. I found myself tired, angry, frustrated, annoyed, and experiencing some major burnout. 

Interestingly, I pursued a path in social work and have been counseling for many years now. I have been teaching others the importance of being still and finding rest. I gained a certification in mindfulness. I then was certified in yoga. That’s right, yoga. It was slow. It was mindful. It was quiet. It was as if something inside of me knew it craved a slowed down life. This confused many people, including the trainer at the Enneagram training. “What? You’re a 7 AND a yoga instructor?”… ha, yes, yes, I know, weird. But here I am. 

Don’t get me wrong, I still LOVE the fast life but I crave the slowed down life. My soul can rest when I have a chance to breathe. I am on a quest for rest. I still need reminding of this need. A dear friend reminded me of this when I was away for a training recently. She challenged me to spend at least a few hours by myself (including turning off my phone). Being an extreme extrovert and a WOO© (CliftonStrenghts©) this was hard. I wanted to document my alone time so I tried to stage some pictures of me being “alone” in order to share it with others later. I may have snickered to myself a moment. And then I picked up my cup of coffee and book, leaned back in my chair, and all alone, I read my book.

I desperately want others to experience pockets of slowing down in their own lives. I want us to create a culture of going for walks, taking long coffee/chat breaks, not filing the calendar and not being accused of being “lazy” if we aren’t constantly “doing”. 

Because of this, I have create “Rest” retreats designed with you in mind to help you intentionally stop, slow down and remind yourself who you are outside of being “Good. Busy.” This retreat was born from a place of wanting to help mental health professionals experiencing burnout and compassion fatigue. These retreats continue to occur and my goal is to spread them throughout the country to anyone in need of rest. 

I’m on a quest for rest. Join me won’t you?

Send me a message! I’d love to hear from you about how you find rest in your life. I’d also love to partner with you, your team, your group to provide “Rest” retreats in your area! 

Be Bold; Be Courageous; Be You!

xoxo

Your Strengths Coach - Mary