When we forget to rest, we forget who we are – we forget the fragile, miraculous gift of life we have been given. We hurry through our days, fuelled by fear and the false assumption that if we do not keep working, we will lose our place, fall behind, no longer be needed. But in this hurry, we are no longer present for our lives. We miss the quiet moments of connection, the whispers of our own hearts, the fleeting beauty of a world that thrives not on efficiency but on attention, on care.

When we stop – even for a moment – we remember that life is not a problem to be solved but a mystery to be lived. We remember that our worth is not measured by what we produce but by the depth of our presence, the courage of our compassion, the willingness to simply be with what is.

Without rest, we lose sight of the sacred. We forget that every breath is a borrowed gift, that every moment is a fragile thread in a vast and shimmering web. We begin to believe that we are indispensable, that the world cannot turn without our effort. Our work is not to keep the world turning but to love the world as it turns – to tend it, bless it, and, when the time comes, to let it go.

Wayne Muller,  Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives