Busy…Unplugged

Pumpkin spice lattes, cool weather and a cloudy mornings all beg for a fuzzy blanket, pjs all day and introspection.  Suddenly I realize what it is.

I slowed down.

You may be thinking how silly that is, but for this girl this is a most uncomfortable place.  A place where I am alone with my thoughts, void of distraction and a space and time begging for some serious attention to my soul.

Someone gave me a plaque once that read “Stop glorifying busy”.  I laughed at the moment to cover the serious jab to all I was but truth be told, it continues to rock me.   In a world of more, higher achievement, faster pace, productivity and goals, glorifying busy is one of the most true statements of the day.  The ending of one day is closed out making a “to do” list for the next.  Sleep sometimes does not come easy as thoughts of what was not accomplished that day and all that remains for the next haunt us like little gremlins vying for time and space in the already complicated life we are living.  Then there are the unexpected things, the unplanned that now must be added to the planned…the illness, the repair, the crisis of the moment.  One day rolls into two then it’s a busy week, month, year, life.  Our soul is screaming to stop the madness through our aching shoulders and tired minds.

But yet the world, myself included, continue to GLORIFY  this busy.

It’s as if busy is an identity we carry, an excuse we use and a goal we set for ourselves.  Thus being still, slowing down is it’s antithesis, quickly becoming the thing that we shame ourselves for.

Truth:  The soul CRAVES stillness, quiet and slow when growth and alignment must occur.

Yet from a carnal place we have adopted the belief that WE are in control of our growth and that only comes with work, fast and busy.  Now I’m not alluding to adopting a mindset of laziness;  we have a part to play in all this.  There IS work that must be done, there is an element of “do” on our part.  I believe what I am continually learning is the lesson of balance.

Between the “have to”, the “need to” and the “want to” it feels like a constant dance with no consistent tempo.  Yet we ARE wired to dance, just to the tempo of one partner.  When I give my soul the moment to rest with my creator, the clarity begins to come, the alignment will happen and with that the rhythm of the dance my life was created for begins to flow.  It is there that I hear not only those things begging my attention, the busy in my life, but a louder voice of peace.  Not a voice I was ever familiar with most of my life, but one I’m learning to hear.  That still place, that whispered quiet that begs my attention above all else.

Balance happens.

So again today, I sip my coffee, hear the wetlands awaken and the wind rustle the trees.  The reminder of who is in control returns and the whispered quiet begins to balance an out of balance week and life.  It’s a dance whose steps I am still learning yet one my heart yearns for.

So if you’ve fallen under the weight of busyness, lost yourself in glorifying what was never meant to be or your just tired, then stop….for a day, an hour, a moment.  Get still, stop spinning both internally and externally and listen…to your heartbeat, to the wind, to the whisper of your soul and just be.

Let the dance begin….

Peace be yours,

Dee

 

Airports and Endless Adventures

That wanderlust thing…guess I’ve always had it.

The discontentment was never with life as I know it, but the discontentment of being in one place for too long.  What a realization as I walked down the long corridor toward the gate…I was meant to do this the rest of my life…I was always meant to do this.

Purpose.

“We are each born with a purpose, but we choose our destiny.” – Paula White

That truth rings in my ears, yet the fear silences it with the whisper of, “What if you choose wrong?”  Thus, keeping my feet planted all too often, forsaking purpose and the choice of an amazing destiny laid before me for the safety and security of a life well lived.

What is going on?  Sell it all?  Leave it all behind?  For what and for where?

A life of adventure, only to visit…never to stay.

So many cultures, so many people, everyone going somewhere yet many going no where.  Amid all the wealth and success, the bigness of it all, there is a dark, hidden, opposing factor of lack.

Heartbreaking how we can be asleep yet fully awake.

Fine lines are drawn between our opinionated right or simple choice to ignore and tolerance, acceptance and truth that loves bravely and does not speak judgement. Lines that separate and lines that can become walls, lines that rob us of a plan far bigger than ourselves keeping us stagnant yet seemingly walking forward.  I ponder those and closely examine the walls I’ve surrounded myself with first.

Appearing awake, yet really asleep.

Funny how being in the middle of a crowd you can feel completely alone, endlessly connected but in a cave of loneliness.

Noise everywhere but the loudest noise is inside me.  And if in me then it’s likely in many others.

Where do you find yourself today?  Fully awake?  Alert times 10?  Or when you really look at yourself, are you missing what is right in front of you and going on around you because of the chaos and discontent within?

Appearing awake, yet really asleep, walking toward the next adventure, yet having no where to go.

In a world of striving for success, for the next big thing, the next business deal, the next investment, the next big adventure are we missing what is placed right in front of us?  Are we missing the simple in the midst of a complicated life we’ve created for ourselves?

Funny how an airport can spur such thoughts that have evolved into ramblings.

Then, as I settle into a few moments of simple quiet to muse over and pen my thoughts, the voice comes across the table.  Random comment concerning a physical attribute leading to a conversation, leading to a connection, leading to an opportunity to plant a seed.  How easily I could have missed it.  How easily I could have brushed it aside and ignored what was right in front of me for the sake of being distracted by something I thought so important at the moment.  How easily I could have checked my phone, gone back to typing and missed a moment…one that would be lost forever.  But response birthed conversation and we left better than we arrived.

How many times has the rush and the wanderlust caused me to miss what is right here? Yes there are conversations to happen, connections to make and purpose to fulfill.  But this traveler needs to enjoy the journey and not just look at the destination.  Every step, however small, is one more opportunity, every kind word a place to show love and impact a life.

Yes, I was purposed with a wanderlust, a yearning for more, a restless spirit never to settle.  Yet, on the journey toward the path called destiny there is even more!

Purpose?  Have one.  Destiny?  Moving toward one.  Journey?  The joy in both!

Here’s to living one moment, one day, one experience and one simple, kind word at a time. Here’s to seasons and change and death that brings growth.  Here’s to a Papa that loves enough to never leave us even in the valleys and who celebrates with us on the mountains.  Here’s to friends, conversations, tears and journeys….most of all, here’s to the fabulous, fearless, unique you….love big, live loud and laugh more…it’s all good for the soulife!

From a heart in overflow…Lots of love…Dee