The Courage to Rest

By: Kathy Young Deegan

"Rest is not for weaklings. Hollowing out space for rest is work… It takes courage to rest in the midst of an outcome-driven society. It takes strength to walk away from good in the pursuit of better.”

— Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith

The gentle pitter-patter of rain tapped against my bedroom window — a rare and welcome sound in drought-worn Southern California. In the distance, an ambulance wailed through our quiet city. Closer to home, birds chirped between the steady drops sliding from the roof.

It was an ordinary morning — but the noise felt anything but ordinary. It pressed in on me, filling up the spaces I hadn’t realized were already crowded.

For months, I had been moving nonstop.

Prepping for two graduations.
Packing for a long summer trip.
Helping all three of our young adult children prepare to move out — each one beginning their own chapter, leaving our nest a little quieter with every box.

I told myself I was fine, that this season of motion was good — productive even. But when the last door closed and the house finally fell silent, the quiet felt unfamiliar. The kind that hums with something you’ve been avoiding.

I sat down at my desk, laptop open, to-do list nearby — and then I stopped.
I closed the computer.
I let my hands rest in my lap.
And I listened.

At first, all I could hear was the rain. Then my own breath. Then something deeper — the sound of stillness I hadn’t made space for in far too long.

I used to believe that rest was indulgent, that slowing down meant falling behind. But in the stillness of my quiet bedroom, I began to grasp what Dr. Dalton-Smith meant when she said, “Rest is not for the weak.” True rest is for the brave — for those willing to pause long enough to remember who they are beneath all the doing.

Stillness isn’t easy. It takes courage to pause when the world tells you to push harder. 

But in the silence, I found something I didn’t know I’d lost — a connection to the part of me that simply is.

Wherever you are right now — whatever noise surrounds you — maybe this is your invitation too.
To stop.
To listen.
To remember that peace doesn’t wait for perfect conditions. It begins when we finally choose to be still.

Where do you need to pause in the midst of your hurried life?

What practices help you to return to stillness when the world wants to pull you away?