Fearless Rest

When you’re at the beginning of your life’s work, staring up at the huge hill of doubt and effort, the most important thing you can learn is fearless action. The ability to look risk in the eye and not blink is a powerful catalyst for creation, creativity, and the effort required to build something of substance.

But when you reach the first or even the fifth plateau on your journey to the heights of your genius, fearless action isn’t enough anymore. Instead, you must learn to master the art of fearless rest, which requires a courage all its own.

When you’re at the height of success, it takes courage to rest. It takes courage to take time for deep work and the pursuit of creativity that’s uncommon. When the world is spinning around you at a thousand miles an hour and the emails are flying in faster than you can answer, it takes a true warrior of work to stand at the center of the storm and sit down quietly and read a book, snuggle your partner and/or kids, and drink a warm perfectly cooled cup of coffee.

But the world has enough fearless doers caught on the coattails of their own success, chasing a vision of life they have long ago achieved.

What the world needs more of is people who will opt out of the mad chasing and do the thoughtful work of changing the world that begins with refining the edges of your own heart.

The world needs more fearless warriors of rest and contemplation.

So, I hope you’ll join me. I hope you’ll find some time this week to step to the edge of your working life and slowly close the door.

Sure, it all might collapse if you do, but then again, you might collapse if you don’t. And if you do, what was this all for, anyway?