Rest

Happy Labor Day! 

Labor Day here in the States is a day of rest (and according to fashion-conservative people, it's the last day that you can wear white jeans). I know it's a bit funny for me to talk about rest while I am a workaholic sitting on my bed, clacking away at 2AM in the middle of August to stay a few weeks ahead on my content, but alas, rest is important. 

It's not just about Sabbath being a day of "rest" so we can go to church and fellowship. Rest is much, much more than that. Especially in the bustle of modern day, it is easy to begin to idolize work. I know at least a part of me does -- I want to work hard and get "somewhere". To be honest, I don't think I really know of any lifestyle other than "work hard". 

When I was a wee little thing, I worked hard to learn English. My parents told me it would be the only way to stop people from bullying me, so I would do my best. I read as much as I could, and I practiced writing sentences as though my life depended on it. In my mind, it worked. By third grade, I was not bullied by the boys who bullied me from kindergarten. Of course, they probably might have just grown up and grown out of bullying a defenseless little girl, but I trusted my parents' judgement that learning English saved me from lifelong bullying. My passion for learning English eventually slowed, but I began to challenge myself excessively in other subjects. It made life suck just a bit, but I felt so accomplished! I felt proud that I made my life complicated, struggled, and overcame. Of course, life is about overcoming struggles and pushing ourselves, but not unnecessarily so!

Even now in my work life, I keep myself so busy. I love being busy, since it keeps my mind off of things I don't want to think about. However, there comes a time when we have to just set aside work, and just admire the fact that while what we do can impact a moment, it's still just temporary. Working hard is a good virtue, and we should work hard. However, our success/failure is not based on our works, or even how others view our work. We do not have to be the best at what we do, or top of the economic food chain to be "successful". Ultimately, doing your best at what you are supposed to do is all you have to do. You might not be good at everything you try, and that's okay. You might also not be recognized for the things you do, but as frustrating as it is, it's okay too. Your worth is not found in these things, but in the fact that God created you, loved you, and died for you. That's something I have to keep reminding myself whenever I feel myself going a little crazy over work.

One of my New Year's resolution for this year was to stop idolizing work, and to be honest, it's been a failing cause. Over the course of the past nine months, I went from restraining myself from checking my phone every few moments for a missed call, to living in cafes to work on things. I'm a huge hypocrite for writing this blog post, and I definitely need accountability in cutting myself a break every now and then. :) Labor is good, because God created labir for man to glorify Him. We are all called to do His work. However, He also created rest to glorify Him, and I am definitely lacking in that department.

Again, happy Labor Day, and I hope you all had a great long weekend!