Lazy Days: Restful or Regretful?

Do lazy days make you feel rested or unproductive?

It’s funny how the days I give myself permission to rest are the very days I struggle to enjoy. I’ll lie on the sofa, scrolling, thinking of all the things I could be doing laundry, content planning, meal prep, catching up on messages. My mind races even when my body clearly needs a pause.

Just recently, after coming back from holiday, I had one of those days. I felt exhausted but also guilty for feeling that way. I had unpacking to do, a presentation to finish and kids to care for. I even started cooking and couldn’t bring myself to finish the meal. It’s like my body was whispering, “Rest,” but my mind kept shouting, “You’re being lazy.”

Grief has taught me that rest doesn’t always look peaceful. Sometimes, it looks like sitting in silence because you have run out of emotional strength to move. It looks like tears in the kitchen because the simplest task suddenly feels impossible. It looks like choosing stillness, not because you want to, but because you’ve reached your limit.

But here’s what I’m learning:

Lazy days are not wasted days. They’re recovery days. They are the quiet reset between everything you’ve poured out and what you’re about to pour again.

As a mother, I’ve had to remind myself that slowing down doesn’t mean I’m failing my children …….it means I’m preserving the version of me that they actually need: present, peaceful, and whole.

As a woman rebuilding her life after loss, I’ve realised that even strength needs rest. Even faith has quiet moments. Even joy pauses to catch its breath.

So, do lazy days make me feel rested or unproductive?

Honestly…. both. But I’m learning to choose rest over guilt. Because God never designed us to be constantly in motion. He designed us to abide.

If you have been feeling like you are doing “nothing” lately, maybe that’s exactly what you need.

Rest doesn’t make you weak. It’s the very thing that prepares you to rise again.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

Take that lazy day, sis. You’ve earned it more than you know.

Lots of love

Doris King x

“You don’t have to walk alone”