Just a few days ago, I spent time at my happy place - the beach. While there, I silenced my phone and spent some much needed time alone near the water. As I listened to the waves, felt the sun on my face, and gazed out at the beautiful blue sky, I was at peace for hours. I left work at work and home life at home. I did not allow any external factors to disturb my peace or have a negative impact on my alone time. I made sure I gave myself permission to receive the much needed rest and rejuvenation that I deserved. In today’s world, we move so fast. We prioritize work over rest and measure productivity by hours spent at work. But what if productivity was based on how well you cared for yourself? What if you could do more by doing less? What if your well could produce more water when given a chance to replenish? We all need a break from our day to day lives to recharge. I encourage you to replenish your well. I challenge you to make time for yourself. So I ask you: Where is your happy place? What place allows you to feel relaxed and rested? The beach? The park? I encourage you to try to following to invite a sense of restfulness to your world: ⁃ Make time to go to your “place.” This is certainly more feasible for some places over others. However, when and if it is possible, take the day off and go spend time in the place/space that brings you peace. ⁃ Envision your space. When it just isn’t feasible to leave, take time to envision your space. Mindfulness and guided imagery is a powerful tool that can help you achieve the feelings of peace and rest without ever leaving your setting. ⁃ Go without electronics. Although we can easily identify the pros of having our phone and laptops nearly attached to us, we rarely take time to think about the disadvantages to being “plugged in” all the time. I challenge you to truly have alone time, without your phone or laptop. Just allow yourself to be in your space, physically and mentally. Today is the day when you make a commitment to you. I encourage you to take some time away to simply REST!