Rest Is Resistance:Why Taking Care of You Is the Most Powerful Thing You Can Do

Hey mama.

You’re doing a lot. Like… a lot a lot. Diapers, bottles, teething, sleepless nights. Trying to keep your head on straight while also figuring out life, your goals, your past, your future—and oh yeah, raising a whole human? That’s next-level stuff. If nobody’s said it today: You are incredible. And also? You don’t have to do it all.

This Pressure? It’s Not Yours to Carry Alone.

Somewhere along the way, we were taught that “resting” means we’re lazy. That if we’re not running around doing everything, we’re somehow failing. That we have to prove we’re strong by never stopping. Girl… no. That’s a setup.

Rest Is Not a Reward—It’s a Right.

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Put your oxygen mask on first.” The idea is simple: you can’t help anyone else if you’re gasping for air yourself. But in real life? Most of us forget this. We wait until we’re totally burned out, emotionally drained, or physically exhausted before we even think about resting.

But here’s the truth: Rest is productive.

Rest isn’t a reward you get after checking off your to-do list. It’s a tool. A survival skill. A necessity. It fills your cup so you can pour into others. It’s the quiet foundation that allows you to think clearly, feel deeply, and respond with love instead of stress.

The version of you who is rested and well is the version your child needs most. You can’t nurture, teach, or show up with patience and warmth when you’re running on fumes. Rest restores your energy, your focus, your creativity, and even your hope. And let’s be honest: motherhood is not a 9-to-5. You’re “on” around the clock.

So please hear this: Rest is not weakness. Rest is wisdom.

It’s one of the strongest things you can do. It’s saying, “I matter too.” It’s saying, “My health and peace are just as important as my child’s.” It’s saying, “I deserve to feel okay.” Rest is resistance. It pushes back against all the pressure to hustle, to be everything to everyone, to never stop moving. Rest is your body’s way of asking for compassion. It’s your spirit’s way of saying, “I need a minute.” And guess what? You’re allowed to take that minute.

Look at You. Like, Seriously.

Can we just take a moment and really look at everything you’re carrying right now? You’re learning how to parent—how to be someone's whole world while still figuring out your own. You’re googling baby stuff, doctor stuff, how-to-feel-like-yourself-again stuff. You’re up at weird hours making bottles, making plans, making it through the day on fumes and maybe a granola bar (if you’re lucky). You're handling blowouts and meltdowns and appointments and questions like, "Why is the baby making that noise?" with the kind of calm that deserves a medal.

But it doesn’t stop there. You’re unlearning things, too. Unpacking the hard stuff from your own childhood. Trying to be the parent you maybe needed growing up. Trying to do it differently—to respond instead of react, to love without conditions, to set boundaries you never saw modeled.

That’s emotional labor. That’s healing. That’s heavy.

You're also dreaming. Yep, in the middle of all that—you’re still dreaming. You're thinking about your future and your baby's future. Wondering what life could look like five years from now. Trying to build a whole new story in real-time with very few breaks and way too many things on your to-do list.

And yet—here you are. Still waking up. Still trying. Still loving, still learning, still showing up, even when it’s hard. If no one has looked you in the eye and said it recently, let me be the one to tell you: You are doing enough. You are enough. And I am SO proud of you.

You don’t need to hustle harder to prove it. You don’t need to meet every expectation or have the perfect answer. Just by being here—just by caring, trying, and doing your best in this exact moment—you are already enough.

So if today you feel like you're barely holding it together, please remember: holding it together at all is still something. And if today you’re falling apart a little, that’s okay too. That doesn’t take away from your strength. It just makes you human.

You’re Teaching Your Kid Just by Being You

You don’t need a fancy degree in parenting. You don’t need to follow every parenting trend or have it all figured out. Just by being yourself—you’re already teaching your child more than you know.

When you choose to rest when you’re tired…When you say, “That’s too much for me right now”…When you ask for help instead of powering through…When you take a deep breath instead of snapping…When you cry in front of them and then remind them that feelings aren’t bad…

You are giving them permission to listen to their own needs, to set boundaries, to feel their emotions without shame, and to ask for support. A lot of us grew up learning to stay small, be polite, never say no, and keep our hard feelings hidden away. We were told to “toughen up” or “get over it.” But here you are, doing something different. That’s not small. That’s breaking generational patterns. That’s powerful. Even on the days when it doesn’t feel like you’re getting it right—even when the dishes are piled up, your patience is low, or you’re eating crackers over the sink while rocking a fussy baby—your child is learning.

They’re learning that love isn’t about perfection. That rest isn’t laziness. That mistakes are part of life. That softness can be strong. That showing up matters more than showing off. You don’t need to be a perfect mom. You just need to be a real one. One who’s honest. One who’s growing. One who loves their kid enough to care for themselves, too.

Your presence, your choices, your effort—they’re shaping a new story for your child. And that, my friend, is beautiful.

You Weren’t Meant to Do This Alone

Motherhood is hard enough—doing it without support is a whole other level. That’s why places like Mother’s Refuge exist, because it really does “take a village”. You deserve a space where you can just be. A space where no one’s judging you. Where your worth isn’t tied to how much you’ve done today.

If all you did today was survive, that’s okay. If you need to cry—go for it. If you need help—ask. If you need a nap—girl, take it.

You don’t have to be everything to everyone. You just have to be you.

And you, exactly as you are, are more than enough.

“Rest isn’t giving up. It’s getting ready to rise again.”

-Jessica Doane, LSCSW, LCSW, Therapist and the Director of Community Engagement at Resolve Counseling and Wellness

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