Have you ever felt like life is just flying by you? Work is cranking out endless tasks and responsibilities… The kids have countless events that they need chauffeuring to… There are multiple required social events on your calendar filling up your weekends… And some how you need to find time to just simply go to the bathroom in all that mess of a schedule.
This happened to me the other day. I was in a rush to get as many things into one 24 hour day as possible. I was running from one event to another and found that it was making me grouchy, irritable, and just down right testy.
I had to hit pause.
For about 40 minutes I simply sat still and watched life around me. Instead of watching life go by I did my best to be fully present in the midst of it. I sat and journaled and prayed and listened to some music. In those 40 minutes I felt more refreshed and rejuvenated than before.
When life is flying by you and feeling out of control try these four things…
1. Pause
As difficult as this may be, there are times when you need to simply just unplug. This might mean the dishes in the sink pile up for a little bit. Or the lawn doesn’t get mowed today. These things need to get done, but not necessarily right now. Your pause could be 30 minutes, 2 hours, or even a full day. It all depends on what you are willing to carve out of your schedule.
2. Reflect
Our minds are moving a million miles an hour, thinking about thousands of different things. It is a gift to stop and process what has been happening in your life the past few days, or weeks. It could be as simple as answering two questions: Where have I seen God lately, and What has God been showing me through these past few days or weeks?
3. Pray
Prayer is our intimate connection with our Creator, our Heavenly Father, and our God. Prayer is an act of depending on God in all things. When I am running my life and going a million miles an hour, my greatest temptation is to believe that I can do it all on my own. Prayer reminds me that I can’t. I am desperately in need of God’s help and presence in my life.
4. Journal
There is something life giving about writing in a journal. It has been a habit that I have added to my life for the past 8 years. I have filled a few moleskin’s with the thoughts, prayers, and tears of what’s going on around me. Writing is slow. It causes you to think, and process. Writing things out quite possibly can also help you figure things out.
What would you add to the list? Leave a comment below.
~Peter
Peter Gowesky 