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I'm Not Busy


     Everyone's busy. Busy busy busy. When you're a teen, when you're in college, and when you're an adult. Maybe you think it will stop once you get past a certain stage of life, but it won't. The only way to slow down is to grab life by the horns and make it stop.

     Do you feel like life is a charging bull? Maybe you're rushing to the next thing constantly, or you're buried in school work. The newness of the semester has worn off, and you're in survival mode.

     Ladies, we weren't meant to survive! We were made to thrive! To me, "thrive" means abundant life. Living fully in where God has you and being content in it.

     I do not have this mastered by any means. But I'm saying no a lot recently. Because for me, thriving means less. It means taking control of my calendar and crossing off the things that don't bring me joy. Or maybe they would bring me joy, but I need rest more than I need joy.

     This means whenever I see a new opportunity--a new life group, a new babysitting job, a new tutoring job--I look at it, assess my schedule and how "whelmed" I am feeling. I assess whether it's something that would be practical.

     Lots of these things have good results--deeper relationships, money, or rapport with future clients--but they mean I'm giving a little of myself to them. I'm investing in them.

     I just have to ask myself: Is it worth it?

     My weekends, especially, are something I've become zealously protective of. It's tempting to make weekend commitments and accept those jobs because I'm really not doing much on the weekends. At least, that is what my calendar says. But my calendar is wrong. Here's why.

     On Saturdays, I eat pancakes for breakfast with my family. We have a family meeting. Then we go about the errands, yard work, and homework that didn't get done during the day. That's my margin. My room for overflow. My "catch my breath" day.

     On Sundays, I go to church for (at least) three hours in the morning. Then I come home, eat lunch, and relax. This could be hanging out with my family, reading a book, or taking a nap, but it's a time for quiet and rest. It's my Sabbath.

     We need to stop looking at our calendars before we make commitments and start looking at our souls. Tweet this!

     For more on less, read Emily P. Freeman's post about what it looks like for her. As blogger Kat Lee put it, "We are overwhelmed by too many great things."

~Madeline

Comments

  1. This is very thought provoking! The rest of my month is going to be VERY busy. I'm working on graduating, and really want to be done by November, but that does mean doubling up some subjects. I'm up for the challenge over the next two and a half weeks... but my goal after I graduate is to take some control over my time, and become organized enough to take the weekends "off". So that once again I will have plenty of time for reading, cooking with my siblings instead of rushing through it on my own, and, yes, for a time to put the overflow of the week so that I don't have to enter a week already behind. It's something I am very eager to make happen :)!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's an awesome place to be! I love looking forward to calm days. Thank you for sharing.

      Delete

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Thank you for reading! I cherish each and every comment and usually respond within a day or two. ~Madeline

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