Joe describes how about a week and a half into his annual month-long rest, he feels energized and full of ideas — ready to work again. But he’s learned that if he stays in rest beyond that point, moving through the excitement into deeper states of peace and joy, his subsequent effectiveness improves remarkably.
Most people rush back to work the moment they feel good, partly because that level of exuberance or peace actually scares them. The willingness to sit with feeling great — without immediately converting it into productivity — is itself a practice.
“If I actually prolong that rest period, if I actually sit with all that excitement and exuberance and I move through that into deeper states of peace and joy and slowness, I am so much more effective.”
Brett notices the same pattern on a smaller scale during week-long backpacking trips: halfway through, he’s ready to go with a million ideas, but the second half — sitting with gratitude and purpose without acting on it — is where the real magic happens. Gratitude emerges naturally as a byproduct of genuine rest, not as a practice to force.