July
Last night, I was sitting out in our lawn, just soaking in all that summer has to offer. The breeze was just right, the temperature perfect, and the cool shade keeping the sun from wrecking all the fun. Did I mention the word perfect? Oh yeah, I guess I did. My senses were heightened to the beauty around me as I listened to the birds sing their songs, and the leaves rustle their melody. It was right about then that I thought, well let’s get back to it then.
I jammed on the brakes of that thought and wondered why I would think I need to get back to it anyway. Back to what? I wasn’t doing anything before, nor did I need to do anything particularly earth-shattering at that moment or after anyway. It was then that I realized the guilt I was feeling was because I was sitting around, doing nothing.
LIFE IN THE FAST LANE
The lightning quick society we live in now is punctuated with 30-second sound bites of life. All we need to know and see, we can get in an eye blink. It seems everything we want and need is instantaneous, so why would relaxing in the back yard be any different? We sit down, look around, and move on to something else. The problem is there is no genuine rest or contentedness in that.
We can’t skim over the surface of the water and expect to know what lies beneath. Busyness gives us a false sense of fulfillment, but it is not a substitute for purpose and meaning. You can't rush relaxation.
Why is it that the respites we take don’t have the intended outcome of refreshing and recharging us? Why do we need to be constantly doing something? The list of unfinished projects and the tasks that need to be completed are long, but will they ever go away completely? Move, move move! Go, go, go! Is that really what life on earth is about?
We are in bondage to busyness. If we aren’t doing enough, we feel guilty. But when we are so busy doing things, we don’t feel fulfilled. Then the cycle continues. We lose our freedom and peace because we are wracked with guilt on one hand; on the other hand, there is no depth to what we are doing. A balance needs to be found between finding fulfillment and alleviating the guilt for not doing enough.
Part of the solution is to slow down and be content with whatever state you are in. We can substitute the number and variety of things we are doing with depth. Just as a boat slows in the water, it also sinks in a little deeper. Find those few things that you really enjoy doing, and do them to a greater extent.
GET A PLAN...AND GET PEACE
For me, I need to quit mistaking busyness for fulfillment. Part of this can be accomplished through goal-setting—anything from long-term goals, to just one or two small goals for the day. When I get up in the morning and I know what I need to accomplish for that day, just a couple important items, it focuses my energy. When I complete those few meaningful items, I am happy, satisfied, and fulfilled.
If I have a day that is unplanned and unstructured (which is the default, unless I’m purposeful to plan ahead), the odds that I am going to get to something meaningful and actually do it, diminish greatly. Having a plan makes a huge difference. Just taking baby steps to accomplishing things you deem important goes a lot further towards your personal fulfillment. I may not be able to complete large meaningful things in one day, but I can do something to further it along. It is much better than wandering through your day, filling it with busyness.
A positive side benefit to this is that the loop will stop playing over and over in my mind, nagging me of what I should be doing because I already have taken care of it. I will be able to sit down, recharge, and enjoy the moment. The traffic jams in my head will stop and I will feel the peace return.
I have experienced this with my running. Since it is summer (and hot), I have switched to getting up early and running while it is still cool. My running is complete before I head off to work and the voice nagging me that I need to run that day has stopped. It feels like I am not even running anymore because the constant reminder throughout the day has ceased. Because of this simple shift in my daily routine, I now have more peace and enjoyment each day.
PEACE WITHOUT GUILT
So tomorrow, when I venture into the backyard to sit back and relax, I will do so knowing that busyness will still be trying to call my name. I will ignore it because I will have purposed to identify what is important for that day. When I get up, I will do so happier and without guilt. I will have a plan of what I need to do that day, and check them off my list. The endless loop will stop calling my name, and I will be content.
I hope you too can find time to be focused in what you are doing and to be content in where you are at. As we celebrate the Independence of our nation this month, I challenge you to be purposeful in finding time to truly relax, guilt-free. Be loosed from the bondage of guilt from not doing enough, or from feeling that what you are doing doesn’t matter. Make a plan, take one day at a time, and be content. Enjoy the peaceful freedom that is available each and every day. It is a gift from God so don't waste it on a guilty conscious.
Philippians 4:11-13 (MSG)
Actually, I don't have a sense of needing anything personally. I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. Your eyes will be opened and I guarantee you will see God in it all.
All rights reserved.
I am a father of four and husband to an awesome wife. I have been called to work in the Information Technology department for Living Word Christian Center and cfaith in Minneapolis, MN since 2001, and I oversee them both. My goal is to use technology to make real connections between people.
