You don’t have to be productive to be worth something.
Doing more doesn’t make you better or smarter or more
valuable. And taking a break doesn’t make you lazy.

It makes you human. No one can endlessly
work without needing time to decompress.
No one is always going and doing and creating.
Every person needs quiet moments and slow days.
Days when you don’t have energy to do anything
more than just exist.
And you’re allowed that. You’re allowed to rest.
You’re allowed to slow down and breathe.
To have days where you aren’t working
toward some greater purpose or plan.

Resting is productive in its own right. You can’t be successful
if you’re running on empty.
And you can’t give the best version
of yourself if you’re constantly neglecting your self-care.
There’s strength in being someone
who honors what they need to cope and survive.
Strength in honoring your seasons and giving yourself
permission to shed everything you’re carrying
for a moment so that you can bloom at a later time.

You deserve to rest if you need it. You deserve to have days
reserved for doing nothing. Even if other people with your
same struggles did more. Even if you “could have” pushed
yourself a little harder. Even if you took a break yesterday.
Whatever you manage to do today is enough.
No matter what, you’re enough.

This poem is from page 19 of Daniell Koepke’s book Daring To Take Up Space, published by Thought Catalog Books.