Rest can look different through the various stages of life, but is it something we can ever afford not to do?

After years of a fairly stable work rest rhythm, just lately we have had a number of changes in our life that have led to me feeling like I am doing rest wrong.

That’s not great English, but it’s been this underlying feeling of getting it wrong that has been nagging at me.

I have well-established routines and boundaries that have helped me to recover from almost ending up in burnout, not for the first time, and I have been really conscious that due to my current season, those routines and boundaries are consistently getting eroded. This has created a feeling of almost panic that if I don’t stop getting rest wrong, I might burn out again. It’s funny how just when you think you have things figured out you have a reminder that you don’t. As I have been reflecting on this, it has occurred to me that maybe I don’t need to.

The first thing wrong with the scenario that I have set up for myself is that it isn’t all up to me. It’s not my perfect boundaries and tightly controlled routines that enable rest, although they do help. Rest comes from surrendering control to Jesus, starting each day knowing that as I walk with Him, He provides my rest and I don’t carry it all alone.

The second thing I have come to terms with is that life changes. It makes sense that the rhythms, routines, rest, and boundaries do too. The most important thing is the habit of rest, the intentionality around rest. It’s important to have a work rest rhythm mentality, knowing that as seasons of life ebb and flow, so will the way that we rest in the busier seasons.

The third thing is that I can’t get rest wrong. If I am coming to God for my rest, trusting him, and allowing time for rest, then it will be sufficient for the season. Currently I am making small pockets of time where I can, with a few non-negotiables that include no phone time in the morning, Bible first, regular excercise, and time outside in the morning. My work rest rhythm doesn’t look like it did a year ago, but that’s okay.

We rest so that we can manage all of the areas that God has called us to. We rest so that our people get the best of us. We rest so that our purposeful work and creative pursuits are inspired, not just what is left from our tired brains.

Rest is vital, but it doesn’t have to look the same in every season.

Article supplied with thanks to Lorrene McClymont.

About the Author: Lorrene McClymont is a writer and photographer from Hope Images. On her blog ‘Moments to Rest’, she shares about rest, faith, and family.

Feature image: canva.com

Rest is discipline. That’s probably not what we think of when we think of rest. Still, it requires discipline, boundaries, and clarity about priorities. 

I  struggled with rest for a significant part of my life, believing that hard workers kept going. They pushed through, they reached for the next thing. My thought process was something along the lines of ambitious people and high performers don’t have time to rest. Exactly the opposite is true. They don’t have time not to.  

Recently, Nick Daicos won the 2026 Brownlow Medal, the highest award in AFL Football. He didn’t just win it; he achieved it with a record number of votes throughout the season. When he received his award, he said some really interesting things in his onstage interview, suggesting that rest is part of high performance.

He spoke about being talented, but realised he needed to discipline it. He spoke about being a hard worker and leading by example. These things are important in chasing a dream, a goal or a purpose in life. 

Nick Daicos also spoke about his habit of journaling. He mentioned that he had been journaling since he was sixteen. As a high performer and overthinker, he does this to clear his mind and start fresh each day. Journaling is one of the tools that provides mental rest and gives our brains space to reset. It’s not a passive form of rest; it’s active, and it requires discipline. Even though he is actively engaged, the result is a rested mind, free from the clutter of overthinking. 

Another thing he mentioned in his speech was that he is not on social media. This gives him sensory rest and helps him avoid becoming emotionally and mentally drained by hearing and seeing things that distract him. Not being on social media is a discipline; it’s a choice to rest so that he can focus on his performance, and it’s a discipline that allows him to concentrate on the things that matter to him.

He spoke about the importance of his relationship with his girlfriend and the importance of her not being football-obsessed. His point was that it allows him to take a break, and breaks from the game are important. Even as the best player in 2026, who commented in his speech that he lived and breathed football from a very early age, he recognises the importance of taking a break. Rest is what enables us to continue to do what we love, a job we feel called to, raising a family, volunteering, whatever it is.

All of the things that he mentioned in his speech require choices and discipline. They require habits. Taking time out to rest doesn’t mean we are slacking off. It can take more effort to set boundaries, work through priorities, and say no to things that overload us. To do all that we want to in life, working out what replenishes us should be part of the disciplines we implement in our daily lives. 

Article supplied with thanks to Lorrene McClymont.

About the Author: Lorrene McClymont is a writer and photographer from Hope Images. On her blog ‘Moments to Rest’, she shares about rest, faith, and family.

Feature image: canva.com

Finding rest in God every day.

As I write this, I am sitting on the verandah of a farmhouse built in 1915. The breeze is chilly, but I am rugged up and the sun occasionally breaks through the clouds. A couple of birds engage in a noisy game of chasey in a nearby tree. I haven’t seen a car for hours. I am surrounded by fields of green crops just peeping above the surface, encouraged by this year’s rains. It’s not just that I am resting. I feel completely rested.

But it’s not always a practical solution to drive out to the farm and stay for a few days. This feeling of being rested should be transferable to real life, even in the midst of daily routines and struggles. Rest needs to be something I can carry with me as much as something I do.

Matthew 11:28-30 tells us that we find rest in Jesus as we come to him, walk with him, and learn from him. Is that the answer?  I think that it is. We can implement routines for rest, create habits to help us, and set reminders to rest and work well. That’s still not the same as feeling completely rested. That feeling comes from surrender. It comes from total trust that even when things feel out of control, God is in control. 

Being rested and working from a place of rest starts with an acknowledgment that God is our place of rest. Then we can navigate work, life, family, and relationships from a posture of peace, even in the hard times.

Article supplied with thanks to Lorrene McClymont.

About the Author: Lorrene McClymont is a writer and photographer from Hope Images. On her blog ‘Moments to Rest’, she shares about rest, faith, and family.

Feature image: Canva

New year, new you, right? That’s the way it’s supposed to be in January. But what if you aimed for a new year, sustainable you?

The last few years, since burning myself out and wrecking my back, I have approached New Year’s differently. Instead of focusing on grand resolutions that inevitably fail, my focus has been on small, sustainable habits that bring about long-term change. Instead of treating the new year as a deadline to overhaul my entire life and start again, I view it as more of a checkpoint.

This has resulted in a slower start to the new year. It means I don’t start feeling as if I am behind. I don’t start January with the feeling that I have already failed. It means I don’t feel like the new year has intense pressure before it even begins.

If you want to try this for yourself, start with a straightforward list of what worked for you in the past year and what didn’t. Things on my list that didn’t work in 2025 were:

• Drinking caffeine after 12
• Doom scrolling in the hour before bed
• Consuming a high percentage of content based around the darker side of life (Think shows like Criminal Intent and SVU)

I am adding a disclaimer in here: your personal convictions about what you consume are your own. I am not saying these shows are bad; I am not saying watching them is bad. My only point is that I notice a distinctly negative shift in my thinking and attitude when I consume a lot of this sort of media, which is unfortunate because it’s my favourite genre.

Things that worked well for me in 2025 were things like:

• Charging my phone in the kitchen at night
• Starting my morning with a few minutes outside
• Being in God’s word before scrolling

Use these lists to pick a couple of habits to work on for the new year. I picked one I wanted to add in, no caffeine after 12. It’s something I have been inconsistent with, but I notice a big difference in my sleep when I am strict with it. I’ve identified three habits that I definitely want to stay in 2026. They are habits I have already built into my life, with some level of consistency. These habits are sustainable, low-key, and make a long-term difference to my mental health and well-being.

I use my daily planner to track my habits, which helps keep me accountable. I also discuss my progress with my coach. Once these habits become consistent, I will consider implementing other things I would like to do.

January is a great time to take stock of what is working and what isn’t in your life. It gives you a chance to pause and reevaluate, but it doesn’t have to be a complete life do-over. Instead of new year, new you, try aiming for new year, sustainable you.

Article supplied with thanks to Lorrene McClymont.

About the Author: Lorrene McClymont is a writer and photographer from Hope Images. On her blog ‘Moments to Rest’, she shares about rest, faith, and family.

Feature image: Canva