If you know me, you know I’m very go-go-go. Wake up early, workout, make to-do list, study, work, see friends, call mom, read, do gratitude list, sleep, repeat. Guilty confession: I actually schedule “unstructured free time” in my calendar. I know that sounds dorky buuuut, I also don’t ever want to be “too busy” for spontaneous things that might come up. Welcome to my life. ; )
This past week though, life has slowed down a bit. The rush of the first few weeks of school was brought to a halt as a massive winter storm hit Texas and it got me thinking… what would it look like to live a bit slower? I love the hustle and bustle of a packed day, but if I’m being honest, there are some days where I’ve gone from one thing to the next so quickly that I realize I haven’t had a single moment to just be still. To just think fully about what is happening and what I truly want and what God’s doing in my life & heart. To be fully present where I am, not thinking about all the next things on my list for the day. To sit next to a friend and listen to what’s going on in his or her life without awareness of what time it might be. To watch a TV show and actually just sit still (for real though, watching movies and TV is SO hard for me… I just want to get up and do something productive. Which is exactly why I force myself to watch things… on occasion of course.)
And the thing is, I know we are called to stillness and slowness. Psalm 46:10 starts with “Be still…”. The lil issue for me is… it’s really hard to be still. To actually slow down means to actually, fully process it all. The good and the hard. The sweet and the sad. The excitement and the worry.
But here’s what I’m learning: it is in the slowness and the stillness that I’ve become aware of the tiniest of joys, the little things that may have passed me by otherwise. I’ve felt heartbreak, fully. I’ve been able to notice people who may need a bit of extra love. The absence of the rush of busyness has given me the time to slow down and have deep conversation with an amazing stranger in the aisle of the grocery store, like I did just yesterday when a young single mom told me she and her baby boy haven’t had water or electricity for three days and she shared the strength she’s had to not only get through this, but many other challenges she’s experienced in the last couple years. It’s in my moments of being still that I see how God’s working in my heart. And it’s been in these moments of being still that I’ve had the most clarity as to what God’s best is for my life.
So today, I challenge you this: be still. Maybe that looks like laying down for 30 minutes and just thinking about where you’re headed and what you really want out of life. Maybe it looks like deleting Insta and Snapchat for a few hours and getting off the grid to actually be present in the life that’s in front of you. Maybe it looks like having the conversation that you’ve kept putting off because you’ve been too busy. Maybe that looks like slowing yourself down and writing out all the thoughts that have been circulating in your head. Maybe it looks like going for a walk without your phone and praying for clarity on what God’s best for your life is right now. Maybe it looks like walking through the grocery store and noticing the people around you; really, truly seeing them.
Whatever stillness today looks like to you, I encourage you to give yourself the space to do it. Life seen through the lens of full presence is absolutely beautiful. And it is in the slowness and stillness that this presence is achieved.
xx
Always,
Elle