“Why do you define leave by what you are not doing instead of what you are doing?”

Make no mistake; taking a break from work is a good thing. Resting is a good thing. It is biblical, even. However, we leave a lot on the table when we define rest solely by the thing we are resting from. There is a lot of things to gain if we thought about rest as an opportunity to “do” something. For instance, instead of just being off work, you could think about your leave this year as:

1. A time to deliberately reflect on the goodness of God; A time to nourish your relationship with Him.
2. Family time; A time to gift them your full presence and your undivided attention.
3. A time to reflect on the days and years past; A time to imagine a better future for you and yours.
4. You can even think about your leave as a time to regenerate your mental and physical energy so you can return to work stronger, kinder and more effective.

The key here is to think about what you want to get out of your rest. What you are resting from should be secondary.

Don’t allow yourself to “fall into rest” too exhausted, and without a positive plan for how you will use that time. You may come out less fatigued, but you will have left a lot on the table.

What are you resting for this Christmas?

Take leave for, not from was originally published in Nim’s blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.