A couple weeks back, I went on a backpacking trip with some friends of mine. We drove far up into the mountains—there was still snow on the ground in July—and hiked a mile down into a steep mountain valley with an alpine lake.
We found a picturesque spot in a meadow, nestled next to a bubbling stream, and pitched our tents. That weekend, we hiked, admired the sunset, talked late into the night. One hot afternoon, we took a dip in the lake. I brought my travel watercolor set and tried my hand at painting outdoors.
The trek back up the trail was hot, sweaty, and—let’s be honest—I took a few breaks along the way.
The views, unparalleled.
The company, excellent.
The next day, a total crash.
Monday morning it felt like I had been binge drinking the entire weekend. My entire body ached. When I went out to water the garden, the breeze on my skin felt like a barrage of fists. Sunlight stabbed my eyes.
I was hungover…from exposure to the outdoors.
Now, don’t get me wrong: I wasn’t surprised by this. In fact, I was expecting it. In my life (and maybe yours too), every great weekend was followed by a crash. Road trips, camping, fishing expeditions, even a “low-key” girls weekend in the city. Every single one required at least a week to recover.
This pattern goes back way far in my life. Every summer as an elementary school student, I remember getting sick right as school got out—as I had pushed myself hard to end the year strong.
Whenever this happened, I felt like I had done something wrong—like I was being punished for having the audacity to go out and do an activity. I was frustrated with myself that I couldn’t just push on with my life, keep going like nothing had happened.
But something finally clicked in my head after this last backpacking trip, when I anticipated that the crash was coming: rest is a requirement for good living.
If we push ourselves hard in the gym, we allow time for our muscles to recover. That’s a documented truth of training, and something that good training plans allow for.
So it makes sense that if we push ourselves hard in other areas—like going on a backpacking trip, or finishing a big project, or whatever—we would need to allow time for our bodies and minds to recover.
Most activities follow a pretty standard arc (you might recognize it if you have ever studied narrative arcs in literature or film): exposition, followed by rising action that peaks in a climax, followed by falling action and, finally, a resolution.
Plans for the backpacking trip followed the same structure. There was an idea to go backpacking, people agreeing to go, and a location decided upon (exposition). Then, we made plans and gathered necessary equipment and supplies, and set out (rising action). We embarked on our glorious weekend of backpacking (climax). We drove home, recovered, and unpacked (falling action). Later, we shared stories, photos, and lessons learned (resolution).
Note that I included “recovery” in the paragraph above.
Now, as a person with an autoimmune illness, I may need more recovery than the average person—especially the type of person who typically goes on a backpacking trip. But whether or not my recovery is longer than “normal,” recovery is still necessary.
Stress is followed by rest.
Somewhere in my life, I created expectations for myself to go from stress to stress to stress without ever recovering.
In my head, normal people never needed rest like I did, they never crashed or had recovery periods. And since I wanted to be a normal, healthy person, I wouldn’t do those things either. I’d just keep going, like everybody else did.
The problem is, that’s totally wrong. Everybody needs rest.
That mindset led me straight off a cliff, straight into the land of “monthlong Crohn’s Disease flare up.”
Of course my body will feel like it got hit by a mac truck after a weekend backpacking trip, because that’s essentially what happened!
So of course my body needs rest afterward!
And it’s okay.
It’s okay to need rest. It’s okay to take rest.
God created an entire day each week in order for us to rest. Rest is part of the natural order of the universe.
When your body tells you that it needs rest after a strenuous activity, it isn’t trying to rebel against you, and it certainly isn’t defective. It’s doing exactly what it’s designed to do: recover and heal.
The next time your body crashes, listen to it. Honor it. Give it the rest it needs.
Rest isn’t a defect. Rest is normal, necessary, and delightful.
Take time to rest.