Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:11] Speaker B: What'S Worthwhile Healing Mind, Body and Spirit? I'm Ramsey Zimmerman. I choose peace of mind, vitality of body, and joy of spirit over stress, exhaustion, or overwhelm. Together, let's explore and pursue the many ways to build holistic health and wellness.
Hey there, it's Ramsay here.
[00:00:32] Speaker A: Once again, my mind is having fun with deep nonsense. So here is the enigmatic phrase of the week. Don't stress the rest. At first I thought it was just a catchy little phrase, a nice ring to it, solid slogan for another nerdy T shirt. But then. Well, then I kept thinking about it way too much, honestly. And now I have come completely unraveled in the face of what I can only describe as a full blown quadruple on time.
That has got to be a new record. Four separate meanings from one simple phrase which is clearly both epic and ridiculous. Let me walk you through it. Meaning 1. Don't freak out about the rest of it. The mess, the maybes, the to do list that rolled over from last week. The noise of the world, the expectations, the comparisons. Let them go. Prioritize what matters and release the clutter. Don't stress the rest.
Meaning 2. Don't stress yourself out about rest. The actual act of resting. You finally get a weekend or a vacation and suddenly you're supposed to be relaxed, refreshed and recharged on command. But what if you are too tired to relax? Or you lay down for a nap and start obsessing about the laundry you're not folding? Or you go on vacation and spend more time curating the experience than actually living it? That is a lot of pressure for something called rest.
Don't stress the rest.
Meaning three don't emphasize the leftovers. Not everything needs your focus.
Some things are better left alone, even if they are still on your radar. Sometimes we give our attention to things that are not worthwhile just because they are loud or urgent or trending. That is the kind of emphasis that gets us nowhere. Don't stress the rest.
And Meaning four Do not overemphasize rest at the expense of action. This one surprised me because sometimes we lean so far into recovery we forget to train. We let ourselves off easy, we get comfortable, we stay in maintenance mode and that can throw us off our goals. Rest is essential, but you gotta prioritize action and progress. Don't stress the rest.
So yeah, one phrase. Four meanings. Epic, Ridiculous. Welcome to my world.
Anyway, it's June now. End of the school year, beginning of summer. A lot of people are trying to slow down, reset get away. But even that can feel competitive. Who's going where, doing what? Relaxing. How vacations can turn into performances set up, filmed and filtered instead of just being experiences.
Meanwhile, regular life rolls on. Yard work, errands, laundry, chores that may or may not feel restful, depending on the day.
Sometimes that stuff is satisfying. Sometimes it is just a stressed sandwich with a side of perfectionism. You know what's funny? Banks actually require their employees to take vacations. Not necessarily for wellness, more like fraud protection. They want to make sure no one is hiding anything, so they make you walk away and let someone else handle it. It is a test. Can you let go? And that idea stuck with me. Because maybe that is what rest is. Letting go. No. Not performing. Not holding it all together.
Not earning your peace by first exhausting yourself. Just setting something down, even for a little while, and being okay with that. Because here's the catch. When you start stressing out about rest, trying to do it perfectly, that is when it slips through your fingers. You can't force peace. You can't schedule restoration.
Sometimes you just got to chill out.
Just not all the time. So maybe this is just a gentle reminder to myself and maybe to you. Don't stress the rest. However you want to define it. Don't sweat the small stuff. Don't overpack your downtime. Let some things go. But don't sit on the sidelines long enough to miss out on the action. There's no need to over engineer your piece. Let it come find you. And if that takes a while, that's okay too. And for today, that's that is enough.
[00:04:45] Speaker B: Where to Go from here? Visit whatsworthwhile.net to learn more about me, Ramsey Zimmerman. And please reach out to me and let me know what you think. I don't want this podcast to be some message in a bottle thrown out to sea. I want to hear back from you. Please send me a message or an email or hit me up on X, LinkedIn or Instagram. And please leave a rating and review for the what's Worthwhile podcast on Apple Sports, Spotify, Iheart or Amazon. Thanks.
