Exertion. It's something we all do. Whether we are conscious of it or not. 

Everyone is asking something from us.

Do your laundry, get a job, listen to my problems. 

It can be both mental or physical. 

We work constantly. Even on our off time. 

We are always thinking about something and then the next thing until eventually the world feels like a constant circle of hell and everything is imploding on you that you can’t even get out of bed in the morning and face the day. And then we burn out. 

But what if we took the same amount of effort we put into our day and use it towards rest. 

Our day should be like a staircase. The vertical part is the time we need to work. To show progression. And the horizontal part is the time we should rest.

Both are equal. Both necessary to complete a task. 

Think if we took out those horizontal parts.

We would have a ramp. 

We could still get from the bottom to the top, but think about how steep that ramp would be.

Imagine trudging and trudging your way to the top knowing that if one minor thing goes wrong you'll end up back at the bottom. 

That's what burning out feels like.

Ending up back at the bottom of a steep ramp.

Now you did all of this work and you look back up at that ramp and realize that you have to do it all again. 

Because even if you are ready to stop, the world isn’t.

The world keeps moving. 

Deadlines still arrive.

Monday still comes. 

It's all well and good to say yes to everything. 

That is our first instinct.

You want to do everything for everyone but it's too much to handle.

It's ok to say no.

In fact you should take pride in saying no.

It's kind of fun.

So the thing I recommend people eat more of is rest.

Because if you rest.

You will be able to do more. 

Create more.

Love more.