Rest or distraction? Which will you be enjoying this summer?

I wish you rest this summer…rather than distraction.

And the two are different.

Ferreting around the internet on your phone at the end of the day (or in the middle of it…or throughout it) isn’t rest.

It’s mental distraction.

There’s no new life here; just cerebral escape from the one where we are.

There can be a place for this, we all need escape sometimes; but it isn’t restorative (indeed, it may make us more anxious) so we won’t call it rest.

Our mental machinations are hard wired for anxiety, dissatisfaction and irritation; they cannot offer us peace…just stressed stimulation.

Rest occurs when our breathing deepens and we’re taken away from our minds and into our body to a place of ‘no thought’.

So it might be being still, transfigured by a sunset; but it might also be an energetic walk up a hill or going for a swim.

Whatever takes us away from our over-thinking and brings us to no thought, this is rest… whether it’s a waterfall, a sunflower or feeling the kiss of the sun; whether it’s a calming visit to the park or a half-marathon…

We feel better, we feel restored by a rest, by no thought, even if it only lasts ten seconds.

And I wish you rest this summer.