It’s okay to take a break
There’s a delicate, almost hidden joy in doing nothing. The kind of nothing that isn’t indolently wasteful or devoid of purpose, but a quiet surrender to the flows of time and existence. In a world that constantly pushes one to compete, meet targets, climb ladders, and race against time; to suddenly stop and step off that relentless treadmill can feel like a revolutionary turn of events. But as I discovered, sometimes the most transformative thing you can do is simply take a seat, relax and press pause. Let me elaborate.
At 21, I found myself in a place that many would deem unusual and foolish for someone so titularly young. To retire! Having just resigned from a job, after hopping from one career to another, the pressure to succeed, to keep moving forward, to fit into a mould that was not meant for me had left me exhausted, questioning life choices, purpose of life, and merely existence. And so, I took the bold step of giving it all up, choosing a break—a break from expectations, a break from a relentless strife. In a society where unemployment is frowned upon, especially at my age, I knew I was making a choice that would raise eyebrows. But I did it anyway, and I especially did it for me.
The concept of taking time off, allowing myself to indulge in the luxury of doing nothing, was foreign at first. It felt almost like a betrayal, an indulgence reserved for those who had “made it” or “in one’s sunset years”. But I soon realized that we spend so much of our lives doing—striving, working, climbing, that we forget the importance of just simply being. In those eight months of stepping away from the grind, I learned that there is deep nourishment in stillness.
During this time, I found comfort in activities that I once had to struggle to make time for: tending to a garden, trying out recipes, reading books, listening to CDs and filling crossword puzzles. The soil, the seeds, the slow unfolding of petals on buds mirrored the pace of life. I was no longer in a race to get somewhere, no more in distress of getting a call asking if I am on my way. The process of growth began to seem quite natural and seamless. With every ounce of sugar and desiccated coconut I caramelized till I reached the correct consistency to make the decadent tablets, and with every page I turned in a book, with every track playing in the CD, and the humble winnings of crosswords every Sunday… I sank deeper into worlds outside of my own.
In the quiet, I found a new rhythm—a rhythm that didn’t require constant motion. The idea of the clock ticking, which had once been a source of stress, became something to embrace. No longer was I obsessed with filling every moment with productivity, or meeting KPIs. I began to appreciate the natural flow of time as it passed by gently without haste. There is a certain beauty in allowing time to unfold, in allowing yourself the fretless grace to simply exist.
The social pressure to always be working is suffocating, especially in a society that prizes productivity and recognition above all else. Here, as we all would agree, unemployment is a stigma. The concept of taking a break can be viewed irresponsible, even wasteful. I’ve learned that it is not irresponsible to take time for oneself; it is a necessary act of self-love. After all, we are not born to work ourselves to exhaustion. We earn to live, not live to earn. The pursuit of money and success often blindfolds us from seeing the preciousness of life. We forget that life is too fleeting to not spend it with the people we love, doing things that bring us joy, and most importantly, being happily content with one’s self.
As the infamous ABBA track goes, money is the sun of the rich man’s world. The decision to take a break was made possible by the simple practice of saving. It is something I wish more people my age would consider: to live below their means and create a cushion of savings that allows them the freedom to step away from the chaos when they need it most. Saving isn’t just about having money for emergencies; it’s about creating chances for rest, when the weight of the world becomes too cumbersome.
And stillness, I have found, is an act of radical self-care. It is a dismissal of the idea that fuels the race of worth vs work. Rest is simply a declaration that we are deserving of rest, that our minds and bodies need time to recharge. To take a break is to give yourself permission to exist outside of the expectations of others. It’s the recognition that, as much as we are taught to work hard, we are also meant to live in peace.
It was in these months of solitude and reflection that I rediscovered the simple joys of life—long conversations with family, watching time fly by, savouring and serving meals that I took the time to prepare. Remember the flower? Similarly, time, when allowed to unfold naturally, becomes a gift, not a burden. We are often so distracted with what we need to achieve, that we forget to be present in the moments that matter most.
For us all, the road ahead is filled with potential and promise. But I no longer feel the need to race toward it. I’ve learned that sometimes the most important thing is to pause, to breathe, to enjoy the quiet moments that allow us to reconnect with ourselves. The joys of doing nothing isn’t about abandoning resolutions; it’s about recognizing how precious life is; that love, friends and family matter more than meetings, and that sometimes the most valuable thing we can do is to just simply be.
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