For over a decade, I lived at a relentless pace. I was first in, last out, working nights, weekends, and early mornings. I told myself this was what commitment looked like: giving everything I had, proving I was worthy to be in the rooms I entered, and showing my dedication to the causes I cared about.
And it worked. From the outside, it looked like I was thriving. I held a personally meaningful and prominent role as a city official. I was working on national initiatives I had once dreamed of. I had a vibrant community and a blooming relationship with my dreamy now husband.
But on the inside, I was burning out.
The signs whispered at first: fatigue I couldn’t shake, frequent illness, a growing sense of dread at the start of each day. Then they roared: a heart arrhythmia doctors said would require a lifetime of medication, a jaw so tight I could barely eat, constant anxiety, and a body sending alarm bells I could no longer ignore. I was unraveling under the weight of a life and a pace that asked everything of me but left no space to nourish or support me.
And when I imagined what I wanted instead, what I longed for wasn’t extravagant. It was tender: I longed for permission to pause. For a life with room to breathe and rest.
I dreamt of slow mornings, a body that felt well, time to create from vision instead of reacting to someone else’s urgency, the courage to speak my truth, and space to bring life to the ideas that kept calling me. In short, a life that felt like mine.
I didn’t have a name for it then, but I know now that I was longing for rest. Not just sleep, and not just to recover so I could get back to the grind — I was seeking a rested way of life. The kind of rest that would help me remember who I was, what really mattered, and what was mine to do in the world.
I was so afraid that if I stopped hustling my world would fall around me and I’d loose everything my ambition and hard work had won. But I also knew that something had to give.
So I did something that felt unimaginable: I paused.
I dedicated myself to the study and practice of rest.
And everything changed.
That heart arrhythmia I was told would require a lifetime of medication? Gone, stunning my doctors.
My anxiety? Now a companion that reminds me when I need tending or when I’m out of alignment.
That ache to prove myself? No longer running the show. I know deep in my bones that I am worthy. That I am enough.
And rest didn’t dim my ambition. It ignited it.
When I made rest part of my strategy I started showing up with more clarity, more presence, and more vision. I stopped regurgitating what others expected and started offering what I’m uniquely here to create, as only I can. I stopped outsourcing my worth and abandoning myself to prove I’m enough. Rest helped me stop creating from survival and start creating from abundance. I’m more prolific, more clear, and more grounded in my voice than I’ve ever been.
That’s power.
This is the part I want you to hear:
Rest is not a reward. Rest is a strategy.
Rest is not a retreat from your power. It is how you reclaim it.
It’s not the thing you do when the work is done. It’s how the most meaningful work happens.
Rest clears your mind. It returns your voice. It brings you back to the wisdom within. It protects your joy. It allows us to step out of constant performing and proving, and return to what is already true: we are enough, we are whole, and we lead best when we are well.
It’s how I began living the life I used to only dream about: I sleep deeply, have spaciousness in my days, follow the rhythms of my body, and care for myself with devotion. Creativity flows through me with ease. I wake up grateful to be creating work that feels like my true calling, work I could only see clearly once I chose rest. I am a rested mother who is deeply present with my daughter and she’s learning what it looks and feels like to rest too.
Most importantly, I don’t just believe I’m worthy —I live like I am.
This is what I want for you.
If you’ve been told that exhaustion and burnout are the price of ambition and impact, I want to offer you another way.
If you’ve been moving so fast you can’t hear your own longings, I want to remind you: your longings are the keys to the powerful and vibrant life you want to live.
If you’re tired of carrying everything and everyone, I want to whisper something that changed my life: You don’t have to do it like this anymore. You can pause. You can rest. You are worthy.
If you take nothing else from this letter, please keep this: The most powerful, impactful work doesn’t come from the version of you that is running on empty. It comes from the version of you that is rested, resourced, and deeply rooted in yourself.
If you’re afraid to pause because the world keeps spinning, I get it. Let this be a gentle reminder: you don’t have to earn rest. And rest won’t make you fall behind. You will become more yourself, more clear in your purpose, and more able to meet the needs of these times.
There is a way forward that doesn’t ask you to abandon yourself. A pace that honors the wisdom of your body. A life aligned with your deepest longings.
This is the work I do now. Through The Easeful Path, I support women who are ready to build lives that nourish their ambition and their wellbeing. Women who are ready to rest as a powerful, strategic practice to reclaim, remember, and live in their wholeness.
Rest is power, and it’s always available to you. May you find a moment to claim it this week.
💫 Rest Practice of the Week: 15 Minute Power Reset. Give yourself 15 minutes a day to experience one of the seven types of rest. Close your eyes. Stare out a window. Birdwatch. Lay down on the floor or sofa. Call a friend who fills up your cup. Take a walk. Dance. Take a long shower. See “how slow you can go” with an everyday task. It may seem small but a simple 15-minute reset will fuel you and unlock a new relationship with rest.
📣 I’d love to hear from you: What’s one way you’re going to give yourself a 15 Minute Power Reset this week?
Rooting for you,
Milicent
Thanks for reading! This Rested Life is a free weekly letter dedicated to helping you reclaim your power through rest. To show support (and make my day!) subscribe, tap the heart, share your thoughts, or send this to a friend. It means the world! ❤️
P.S. This Rested Life is a companion to my coaching practice, The Easeful Path. If you're looking to reclaim your power through rest I’d love to work with you.
This is exquisite and profound! Thank you for helping us redefine rest as a strategy - as power. xx
Great great reminders! Going to try the 15 minutes of pause by looking out the window to see things that I would typically miss .