When my world starts to spin out of control, logic tells me I need to multitask. I need to do more to keep up.
Recently, spiritual practices have been giving a different answer. When things get crazy, it's more important than ever to pause, to pray, to focus on God. To be reminded that it's not my job to make sure everything turns out the way I or someone else thinks it should.
If the world is starting to go to fast, I can trust God to let me slow down. It's an act of faith, demonstrating my belief that God, and not I, am in control.
My job is to do what I can, the best that I can. I can trust that if, in fact, I need to work harder and faster, God will give me the wisdom and energy to know what to do and get it done.
Even though I know these things, it's hard not to return to my default pattern of getting anxious and worrying and spinning my wheels in inefficient activity.
Recently, spiritual practices have been giving a different answer. When things get crazy, it's more important than ever to pause, to pray, to focus on God. To be reminded that it's not my job to make sure everything turns out the way I or someone else thinks it should.
If the world is starting to go to fast, I can trust God to let me slow down. It's an act of faith, demonstrating my belief that God, and not I, am in control.
My job is to do what I can, the best that I can. I can trust that if, in fact, I need to work harder and faster, God will give me the wisdom and energy to know what to do and get it done.
Even though I know these things, it's hard not to return to my default pattern of getting anxious and worrying and spinning my wheels in inefficient activity.
Old habits are hard to break. Last weekend, I committed to get to bed by 11 p.m. I said I would drop whatever I was doing by 10:30 or 10:45 at the latest to give my chance to have the light out by 11.
With my husband as an ally, I had pretty good success with this commitment from Saturday through Tuesday. I was feeling positive effects.
I'm not sure what all happened Thursday (other than the fact that my husband left for a multiday trip), but when I realized I wouldn't be finished with a task by 10:30, I kept working. Before I knew it, it was after 12:30 a.m., and I was still working on various aspects. I didn't turn off the light to go to sleep until about 1:30 a..m.
The unfortunate result was that, when I awoke this morning, my head was spinning more than ever. That's what got me back on the multitask track -- until I finally realized it was making things worse instead of better. The more I tried to do, the more I saw that I needed to do.
Finally, I hit the pause button. I stopped to pray, to focus on God, to reaffirm my faith. I wrote about what I had experienced.
I also started making a list as things came to mind I thought I needed to get done. I could sort them by priorities and urgency. The day started to look more manageable. I could thank God, and I did.
More to come ....
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