To Rest Is to Trust: What a Sabbatical Taught Me

Happy New Year!

I’m just back after taking the month of December off for a “spiritual sabbatical”

One of my mentors floated the idea by me two weeks before Thanksgiving and there was immediate resistance. Then I pondered it. I fretted. I am a soloprenuer. When I don’t work, my work is on pause.

But the next day or two as I sat with it, the more my heart said, “YES! Please do this for yourself.”

I started imagining what this space and time could hold: more art, more swimming, more nature. Maybe even some long-overdue purging.

And still, as I shared it as it came up, I felt uncomfortable.
Not because I want rest (I absolutely do).
But because I can take this sabbatical.
Because not everyone has the privilege of stepping away without consequences.

So when someone said, “lucky you,” it touched that place of guilt and even shame. Somehow it made me think more deeply on how we’ve built a world where rest is viewed as a luxury instead of a human necessity.

I even cried when I was speaking on a live session at The Human Summit when I shared my sabbatical for the first time out loud. I think a piece of me still believed I hadn’t “earned” or “deserve” this time.

Somewhere along the way, we’ve absorbed the message that if we’re not producing 24/7, we’re failing. How can this possibly be true?

Every living being needs rest.

We feel like we’ve been conditioned to power through exhaustion instead of honoring it.

Choosing to hibernate or take sabbatical in December felt perfectly in line with the natural world.

So what did I do on sabbatical?’

I gave myself permission…

To rest
To read
To cook
To purge
To clean
To make art
To be spontaneous
To listen
To do nothing

And the biggest thing I gave myself permission to do was NOT check email, news and social media! (Highly recommend!)

So yes, maybe I am lucky.

We are living in a culture that celebrates busyness and yet rest is imperative. It’s biblical. To work 6 days and to rest on the 7th.

To rest is to trust.

In my sabbatical journal, I wrote:

“How can I allow myself more rest?”
“How can I teach others to rest more too?”

I’m starting 2026 refreshed, renewed and ready to partner with my clients from a deeper place.

If you think my kindness work could be helpful to you or your team reach out for a connection call.

This is not a sales call it’s a conversation about how I could serve you.

-Linda