"THE REST OF US"

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

THE REST OF US

by Javier Mendoza

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

‭Matthew‬‭11:28‬‭NIV‬

This time of year many of us are taking time to vacation, travel and use our time for things that don’t involve work. However, research shows that "768 million vacation days, up 9% from 2017 go unused— with more than half (55%) of workers reporting they do not use all their allotted time off."

During the year we have hard times finding balance between work and life and even harder times resting, Sleep is one of the most elusive but also one of the most vital elements in our health and yet studies suggest that we are getting less sleep than at maybe anytime in history.

Rest gives us stronger mental health, can boost creativity, increase productivity, promote wellbeing, reduce stress, improve our mood, and strengthen our relationships.

Adequate rest is needed to return our bodies back into a state of homeostasis allowing your body to recover and repair from stress and anxiety.

Rest can be one of the most needed things for true balance yet we stay so deprived of it most days.

How do we remain productive and keep up with the pace that we have created for ourselves?

The truth is we really can’t.

We must realize that we are in serious need of an overhaul in how we rest. We need to find ways in our everyday lives to make time to rest. To rest and 'recreate' ourselves on a regular basis keeps us from having to 'vacate' our lives at not optimal times. We have to find ways to integrate quality rest into our lives.

As we look at our time that we have on this earth we certainly feel the pull to make the best of the time we’re given but I would argue that the way in which we can actually make the best of our lives is to not forgo rest. Our family deserves to have us at our best and our jobs demand a lot, but in order to give our best we need to find rest.

We have to clear our schedule and clear our minds in healthy and productive ways, so that we can be our best self to our families, our work, and every endeavor we have decided is worth our time.

Time is our most valuable and finite resource. We need to be intentional with how we use this time and make every effort to encourage those around us to do the same.

Time is something that is not promised. We do not know what tomorrow will bring therefore we need to stay focused on Today and how our actions will make the best of what we have in front of us.

I hope you remember that you can rest in God, after all He is the creator of you, me, and the original "day of rest".