---
title: "Rest assured — small, regular acts of self-care can stop us going to extremes"
description: "We live in a world that prizes the self-sacrificing art of being busy over the necessary care and rejuvenation of the self. There is a simple way to recharge and reset."
type: "OpinionNewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Opinionistas"
author: "Zukiswa Pikoli"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/zukiswa-pikoli/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2024-12-02-rest-assured-small-regular-acts-of-self-care-can-stop-us-going-to-extremes/"
published: "2024-12-02T22:09:20"
updated: "2024-12-02T22:09:21"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 564
---

# Rest assured — small, regular acts of self-care can stop us going to extremes

> We live in a world that prizes the self-sacrificing art of being busy over the necessary care and rejuvenation of the self. There is a simple way to recharge and reset.

By Zukiswa Pikoli · Published 3 December 2024, 00:09 SAST · Updated 3 December 2024, 00:09 SAST

## Content

For some reason it feels like it was just January, then we blinked and here we are now hurtling into the December holidays and festive season.

As is usual by this time, most of us are experiencing what we call “end-of-year fatigue” – the culmination of a year consumed by work, perhaps studies and, of course, everything that South African current events and the news circuit throws at us to varying degrees of elation, gobsmacked surprise, anger or disappointment.

One thing our country will never go down for in the history books is being boring.

What seems to confound citizens of other countries is that we literally shut down over this period, while they take only the obligatory Christmas and New Year’s Day off. Schools, businesses and civil servants all log off and take a break to allow people to let loose. Sometimes a little too loose, which is why there is now a proposal by the police in Limpopo to impose an alcohol curfew over the festive season because it seems our binge-drinking culture warrants it.

But what I really want to reflect on is the importance of rest and taking time for the body and mind to refresh and rejuvenate, to get off our feet.

The idea of rest in our society is only just starting to catch on.

Previously, it was often met with raised eyebrows and feelings of guilt, as though rest is not an essential aspect of ensuring our overall physical and mental well-being.

In an [article](https://www.todayswomannow.com/rest-is-a-revolutionary-act/) titled “Rest is a revolutionary act”, writer, poet and activist Hannah L Drake captured it best: “Use rest to reclaim, refocus and recentre yourself. Rest because you deserve to rest with no excuses needed…

“Resting is a revolutionary act because rest is rooted in self-love and loving self is revolutionary. Taking care of yourself is the prize. Being well rested is the reward. Being whole is the best gift you can give yourself.”

There is so much wisdom and life affirmation in those words, but unfortunately, because we live in a world that prizes the self-sacrificing art of being busy over the necessary care and rejuvenation of the self, this bears being emphasised.

So, in many ways the December festive period essentially forces people to slow down, smell the roses, as it were, and appreciate the simplicity of not having to wake up every day and go at a million miles per hour.

During a coaching session I had last week, during which we spoke about getting rest and setting personal boundaries in order to allow for a recharge and reset, someone asked me how I can do “miniature versions” of the big holiday shutdown during my day-to-day routine.

And it was as simple as carving out half an hour every day to mindfully and intentionally make and enjoy a cup of tea in my own space, or going for a walk or switching off my phone for a bit.

Our value is not in proving how much strain we can take before we buckle – it is in being the fullest versions of ourselves more consistently. Because then, when December comes around, we are not running on fumes and can indulge in moderation and more qualitatively as opposed to going to harmful extremes. **DM**

*This story first appeared in our weekly*Daily Maverick 168*newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.*

![Image](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/DM-30112024-001-1.jpg)