When I woke up this morning, the sun was barely peeking up over the horizon. I am very fortunate that all I have to do is roll over in my bed and watch the day come alive. The air was crisp and cool from last night’s rain and the smell in the air was fresh and alive. As the sun got higher, the birds started chirping. Louder, more frequent and intense with their song. My thoughts did not immediately go to everything I needed to do today. My first thought was coffee! But seriously, my thoughts were also all about how wonderful this life is that I have and how grateful I am to make this time to wake up with the sun and the birds. And yes, still coffee!
I have been thinking a lot about the pace at which people live their lives. I have so many people in my world that are constantly on the move. Constantly on the go. Constantly “busy”. They have kids that need to be shuttled from here to there all the time. They have demanding jobs that have them running. They have demanding husbands who don’t really help, or rather, some don’t LET them help, maintain the daily requirements of living. There are so many things that can become more important than slowing down and actually living life. I know, because I was one of those. I wasn’t just “busy” and running constantly. I was in a true state of chaos. It was so much a part of me that I thought that what living was supposed to be.
I want to honestly share with you why my life was this spinning wheel of chaos. It actually took me years to actually see what was happening. It was a great example of “you don’t see it when you are in it”. You only start to see it when you are out of it. So, I can tell you I was filling my life with things so that I didn’t have to focus and deal with the truth. My reality. Some things were necessary and had to be a part of my life. But I allowed those things to take over. And then I added more things. This went on for years. Really, almost two decades. That’s a long time. And I was tired.
When I started to slow down and actually make time for me and work on everything I was avoiding, I found that I was not just running through my life, I was running away from and running to something all at the same time. I was stuck, running. It was like being in limbo, and my “busy” state of life was really just avoidance. A defense mechanism that kept me from having to stop and actually walk through my life instead of run.
For those that are experiencing life this way, I am here to tell you, YOU ARE NOT LIVING! Constantly running does not make you a superhero. It doesn’t let you be the real person that you are. It doesn’t allow you to live. It’s all a facade and it’s time to stop.
I challenge you today to take 30 minutes and just be. Take that 30 minutes and sit or walk and just observe everything around you. Smell the air, feel the wind. Watch the sun. Hear the birds. You don’t have to think. You don’t have to feel. You don’t have to fix. You don’t have to run. JUST BE! I promise, your world will not fall apart. It will all still be there waiting for you when you resurface.
I recommend that you do this every day. Pretty soon, it will become such a part of your day it will become your safety net. You will start to slow your pace. You will start to find the courage to deal with whatever it is that you are running from or to. Let it happen. Let yourself live! You deserve it and I believe in you!
