Give yourself permission to relax
The world seemed crystal clear with its bright blue sky and puffy, white, cumulous clouds. It felt like I wore new prescription glasses, but of course, I didn’t. My neighborhood was quiet; not even a dog barked. I didn’t hear traffic noises. Butterflies flitted over the yards and fields, the monarchs, especially regal and distinct. Insects buzzed. Birds tweeted and called out. The crisp air warded off the heat of my exercise as I took my morning walk.
“How beautiful is this day,” I thought, a spring joining my step.
“Do you see how all creation is busy about their business, not worried about the future and what next step they should take?” My thoughts zeroed in on a heart issue.
I did.
Perhaps, rather than fret about sticking to a day’s agenda, as I seem to always do, I should take a different approach. Why get all stressed about not accomplishing as much as I wished? The butterflies, birds—and caterpillars, especially this fat, orange one I saw moseying across the road—weren’t all stressed out about life. They lived intent on what God asked of them in that moment.
“Ask Me what’s next instead,” the Lord said to my heart.
What a novel idea!
So, I think I will try that. I want to ask, “What’s next?” rather than stay enslaved to this endless task list. Feeling defeated and less than because I didn’t stuff as much into the allotted time sucks all the joy out of life.
Of course, my task-oriented personality which finds satisfaction in how much I accomplished that day may resist; but then again, maybe the freedom to just do what God expects of me for the moment rather than what I expect for the day might bring more blessings that outweigh anything else? What do you think?
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life . . .” (Matthew 6:25) sang in my soul as I wrote this.
Huh. What if we all just gave our day to Jesus? What discoveries await us?
It’s something to consider anyway. How have you given yourself permission to live in the moment rather than in the rush?
6 Replies to “Give yourself permission to relax”
I am a lot like you in the way. I like to do things on a schedule, to. But, I try to do the things I “have to do” first, and then I can relax and ask God to lead me the rest of the day.
I’m finding that I have a lot I want to do that never gets done when I think it should so that stresses me out. If I pray and ask what’s next, it just seems to go better, and I am more at peace with what gets done. I’m just starting this so still learning. I do like a schedule, that is for sure. My big problem is that everything always takes longer than I think it will! 🙂 Thanks for joining the conversation, Donna. Aren’t you glad God knows we’re works in progress? 🙂
Ever since my recent appendicitis surgery, I have learned to slow down and not rush so much. I’ve been taking my time and enjoying a slower pace of life. Enjoying the little things around me that I never seemed to take notice of before because I was always in a hurry to get things done. We never know how long we have in life, so we should slow down and enjoy God’s beautiful gifts. I am appreciating thinhs more now.
Such good advice, Marla! I don’t know how we get so caught up in frenzies of busyness. God blesses us with so many lovely things that are often missed. I am glad you are on the mend from your surgery. That sounds like a scary and stressful experience. Thanks so much for taking time to share on my blog this week!
Sounds like we are experiencing many of the same emotions. There’s always so much on my To Do list. It’s exhausting! We need to add Quiet Time or Reflection to our list because it’s just as important as all the cooking, cleaning, and exercise that we do each day.
I agree. We should not feel guilty for taking some moments to rest so we are better prepared for the next thing. The constant frenzy of do-do-do doesn’t seem to move us any further forward any faster. It just comes with less peace. Sometimes it is better to just let some things go because they really don’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Thanks for contributing to the conversation, Shari.