“Rest isn’t a reward for the work; it’s part of the work.” This is a quote that I came up with in October 2021 after reading a post on Instagram written by Tricia Hersey, who posts at The Nap Ministry. I’m including a screenshot below.

I’m going to include the quote in my workbook and I wanted to make sure that I give credit where credit is due. I don’t believe that I coined the phrase, but I strung these words together after being inspired by The Nap Ministry. And yet, I wanted to be extra extra sure that I’ve done my due diligence.

Another reason I’ve also come back to this quote is because an account on Instagram posted the following in November 2022 illustrated by Dani DiPirro: “Rest is not a reward for progress. Rest is part of progress.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Dani DiPirro (@positivelypresent)

I don’t have a problem with people writing words; what I have a problem with is when people write them as if they came up with it out of the blue. Even if they did create a phrase through inner wisdom guidance, they should do some research to see if someone came up with something similar so there are no misunderstandings.

So, that’s what I did.

First, I entered “rest is not a reward” in a search engine. I found many blog posts with that very phrase. Most went into a lengthy explanation as to what that means. None were short and punchy as my Nap Ministry inspired quote.

I then found an article stating that in November 2021, a post on Twitter by coolurbanhippie (real name is Eso Tolson) went viral around rest and not needing to earn it.

I don’t know who needs to hear this but rest is not a reward. You don’t have to earn rest. You need rest. You deserve rest. You are worthy of rest simply because you are a living being. And don’t ever feel guilty for taking time to rest.

— Eso (@coolurbanhippie) November 6, 2021

As I continued my search, I found another tweet, this time posted in April 2021 by Dr. Phillip L. Pointer, Sr., an Arkansas-based pastor that more closely resembles the quote I came up with six months later.

Rest is not an occasional reward for good work. Rest is a prerequisite for good work. Tired people aren't efficient workers.

— Dr. Phillip L. Pointer, Sr. (@plpointer) April 17, 2021

To be honest, I believe I started using the phrase around the same time as Dr. Pointer, however, I can’t find physical evidence to prove that point.

So, how does a researcher handle this issue?

It can be argued that the good doctor was the first to coin this phrase. When using this quote in my workbook, I will continue to say that it was inspired by The Nap Ministry. Even though I did not find out about Dr. Pointer until just now, I’d also credit him since his use of the phrase predated mine.

For Eso and Dani, their use of the phrase came after mine so I won’t need to credit them for inspiring me since that would be impossible. I can’t be inspired by someone’s words if I they wrote them after I did 😉