I've come across several articles in the past week that give the same message: Life never slows down. You know, just when you think things are settling down and you'll be able to breathe for a while, PSYCH! Chaos is shoved back in your face with a great big,"HA!"
I am the type of person who needs down time. Don't get me wrong - I love to be busy and sometimes even thrive on it. But when too many things are going on in my life, I stress out and instead of calling me "Mom", my kids call me the Wicked Witch of the West. Fortunately, just spending a whole day at home, catching up on work or writing, usually is enough to calm my nerves and enable me to go forth and tackle life's stuff with zest.
This summer has been challenging for me. Between my son's driver's training, sports stuff, a week-long vacation, my daughter's luau, a writer's conference this weekend, preparing for another writer's conference in September, an upcoming weekend getaway, birthday parties, showers, staying on top of work, and trying to sell our house (which means dropping everything else to clean like a Molly Maid on steroids every time someone wants to see the house ), I honestly don't think I've ever had a busier summer.
When it comes to writing, I had good intentions when school let out for the summer. I thought I'd have all this extra time to write and would be several thousand words farther in my novel. Yeah, well...
But I'm still plugging away, doing what I can, when I can. A half hour here, an hour there...eventually it will add up.
So now I'm thinking maybe things will balance out in the fall when the kids are back in school. I'm trying to block out all the fall-slash-school stuff: sports practices and games, homework, the possibility that we'll actually be moving (oy), and the upcoming holidays.
My point is it's always something, isn't it? Sometimes I think the writer of Ecclesiastes should have written it this way: There is a time for everything under heaven. Except breathing.
The goal is to find peace in the middle of all that chaos. And also to force yourself to relax - which is kind of an oxymoron, but really, it works. Of course, spending time with God and making devotional time a priority is the number one way to find peace. It's kind of like the eye of a tornado - the very center of a tornado is completely calm, despite the destruction and havok going on just outside it. When we make God the center of our lives, we experience the true peace we long for.
Because let's face it: things will never slow down. If anything, they'll keep getting faster. So if you find yourself overwhelmed and your brain cluttered with to-do lists, force yourself to relax and remember that "this too shall pass."
Until tomorrow.
4 comments:
Oh boy, you said it all. This summer has gone by so fast - it's hard not to dwell on the things left undone. I just have to look at the bigger picture and pray God is helping me prioritize despite myself.
Thanks Lynda
I know what you mean, Lynda. This summer has flown by. And school begins for my oldest in less than two weeks.
I too did not write as much as I anticipated, but a little here and there adds up. So we just have to keep plugging away...
How true. I feel like I'm running in mud—getting nowhere fast.
I pause to remember that what God wants accomplished will get accomplished—the rest isn't all that important.
Funny, I still try to run, even when he allows the "mud" to hold me back and to force me to slow down.
There must be a lesson here, right?
Thanks for the good word, Lynda.
I can't believe how fast the summer went by. June went by in a blink and July did too.
I wish I was going to the FW conference this year; alas finances didn't allow for it. :( But I have seen that the ACFW conference may be in Indianapolis which is only a little over 2 hour drive for me :) So I may try and go to that next year!
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