One of the first things I learned in piano lessons as an eight-year-old, besides “Every Good Boy Does Fine” and “FACE,” was that a whole rest, worth four beats, looked like a bucket, whereas a half rest, worth only two beats, looked like a hat. Thinking about rest as a bucket, full and brimming with ease, is a helpful metaphor, one that we can tie to the way we think about breathing as well as our service to the world.

We might consider the whole rest (the bucket) as our in-breath and our means to gain the resources that we expend in our out-breath or daily activities. If the bucket isn’t filled, or if our lungs aren’t expanded with breath, we won’t have anything to exhale or any energy to share with the world.

Making sure to take a whole rest or a whole breath isn’t selfish. It’s filling the bucket for those full, four beats so that we can put on the hat (or half rest) of activity and exhale our offerings into the lives of other people. Notice, though, that the half rest is only two beats; we don’t deplete ourselves completely as we serve others but reserve some to sustain our own well-being. Rest and ease is part of the process of service to others, an aspect that’s overlooked and leads to burnout. Changing the world doesn’t depend on you alone, so fill your bucket, breathe deeply, and then exhale some of your goodness (not all) into your world.