Slower, Wealthier, Happier

Good morning, beautiful,

I want to be honest with you right away.
This letter is for me too.

I understand rest now in a way I never used to. I build it into my days. I protect my energy. I say no more often. I pause when I need to. And still, there are moments when my body asks for something simple and clear and I hesitate.

Like a nap.

There are days when I can feel it in my body. The slowing. The heaviness. The quiet request to stop. And even when I have the time, even when I have the space, I sometimes choose to keep going anyway. Not because I have to. Just because I am still learning how to respond immediately to what my body is asking for.

That is something I am still practicing.

Permission to rest before you are exhausted sounds easy in theory. In practice, it asks you to interrupt patterns that have been praised for a long time. It asks you to stop waiting for collapse as justification. It asks you to honor yourself without needing a reason anyone else would understand.

Many of us learned to rest only after everything was done. After everyone else was cared for. After the work was finished. After we had earned it. But your body does not operate on achievement. It operates on honesty.

And your body is always speaking.

Sometimes rest looks like sleep. Sometimes it looks like stepping away. Sometimes it looks like doing less even when you could do more. Sometimes it looks like giving yourself permission to stop without announcing it or explaining it.

Rest is not weakness.
Rest is responsiveness.

When you wait until you are exhausted, rest becomes recovery. When you rest before you are exhausted, it becomes care.

That difference matters.

You are allowed to honor yourself in the same way you honor the people you love. You are allowed to respond to your needs when they arise, not after they escalate. You are allowed to believe that your well being deserves the same urgency you give everything else.

This year, I am learning to trust my body more. To answer its requests sooner. To stop postponing care with promises of later. Later is not always kind. Now is where support actually happens.

If rest feels like something you are still figuring out, you are not failing. You are becoming more aware. Awareness is the doorway. Practice is what comes next.

You do not have to wait until you are empty to deserve care.

Love always,
your most magical self ✨