It behooves us all to get the rest and relaxation that we need so that we can bring our best selves to the mission.

What do you do to recharge and remember you are human and need care?

We were on one of our favorite websites, Nonprofit AF, reading this June 28th post from its founder: “I’m taking some time off to recharge, and you should too” and felt moved to spread this message more widely.

The ability to take time off and treat yourself to self-care is not afforded equally to all people. But in too many nonprofits, the relentless push to keep giving everything you have is pervasive from top to bottom salary tiers. It behooves us all to get the rest and relaxation that we need so that we can bring our best selves to the mission. We owe it to ourselves, our coworkers, and the communities we serve to “put our own oxygen mask on first” so that we can operate with clear minds, refreshed bodies, and peaceful souls.

Even more importantly, when we rest, we are better able to bring our best selves to our lives outside of work – to our families and friends, and our community. In the article, Vu Le references a quote from Paul Bowles’s book The Sheltering Sky:

“Because we don’t know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens a certain number of times, and a very small number, really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, some afternoon that’s so deeply a part of your being that you can’t even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more. Perhaps not even. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless.”

What are you doing this summer to invest in your own well-being outside of work? This summer at KDS, some of us are going to the beach, taking family trips to DC, expecting babies, picking back up on an online class we weren’t able to finish, gardening, and unplugging in the woods overnight on a camping trip.

How about you?