How to slow down

I’ll confess that I am not always great at being mindfully present.

Don’t misunderstand what I’m saying—I spend time with my family. The struggle is that although I may be physically present, my mind, my soul, and my attention can easily be somewhere else.

This is an area of my life that became extremely evident about two years ago when I took a three-month sabbatical. For the first several weeks of that time off, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I went into the sabbatical with a plan for how I would rest and recalibrate, but even with that plan in place, the reality of my inability to actually rest and be present became glaringly obvious.

Fortunately, I have an amazing wife, great friends, and a counselor who helped me recognize this and begin addressing it. By the end of my sabbatical, I had learned how to slow down and enjoy rest.

BUT… we don’t live in sabbatical.

Eventually, it came to an end, and I had to return to the realities of work and a full schedule. To be honest, I actually mourned the ending of that season—not because I dreaded returning to the daily life of ministry, but because my body, mind, and spirit had, probably for the first time, actually rested together. It was sad knowing that life would inevitably become busy again.

AND IT DID!

But busy isn’t necessarily bad. The truth is, if you want to make an impact in the world, invest in your family, and live for something bigger than yourself… you are going to be busy! Jesus was busy, and EVERYONE wanted something from Him.

What Jesus modeled was not a perfectly balanced life, but a life of rhythm—a rhythm that allowed His body, mind, and spirit to remain in alignment. As a result, whenever Jesus was with people, He was COMPLETELY PRESENT.

I don’t know about you, but I want to become a more present person, especially with my wife and kids. Most of the busy stuff, as important as it may seem right now, won’t matter nearly as much in the long run. What will matter is whether my wife and kids know that I wasn’t only physically around, but that all of me was available to them.

In no way have I mastered the rhythms of life that Jesus modeled, but I am trying—and it is helping.

There are some incredible resources available on how to live within the rhythms Jesus has laid out for us, and I encourage you to check them out. (Practicing The Way, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, Freedom from the Tyranny of Urgent)

I have also put together the Balancing Act Guide, a short resource designed to help you develop four rhythms that I believe can make a major difference in your ability to be fully present with God, your spouse, and your family.

Be blessed!