Reflection

It’s been a while since I allowed myself to sit down and reflect. Ponder. Wonder. Think. To just stop for a minute and....be. But a phone call from a friend yesterday finally made me want to, and for that I am very thankful.

I truly believe that the times when I am most busy, hurried, or overwhelmed are also the times I most need to give myself some inner rest. If not, there is no way to ensure that I’m sprinting in the right direction, or climbing the right mountain. I’ll be the first to admit that while I believe this to be true, I don’t always have the mental energy to follow through. It’s much easier to turn on a rerun of my favorite sitcom and demolish a bowl of ice cream than it is to go somewhere quiet and journal. It’s much easier to surf the internet and get lost in a barrage of blog articles, news stories, or funny videos than it is to sit quietly in meditation and prayer. And it’s always much easier to spend five minutes talking to my husband or a friend about how overwhelmed I am than it is to take those five minutes and knock out a pending item on the to-do list that’s causing the overwhelm.

And that’s why I am indescribably thankful for some of the awesome ladies I get to call friends. They are always so good at encouraging me to just be. To relax, take a breath, and be loved. So tonight, before I go to bed, I’m going to start fostering a few new habits. First, I’m going to read at least 10 pages of a book – because I want and need to read more. Then, I will take 10 minutes to either write about whatever is on my heart or simply sit in silent prayer and contemplation. I’ve tried several times to make this a morning habit, but I have to be brutally honest...I'm not a morning person.

I know habits take time, effort, and a heaping spoonful of patience. But I'm ready and willing to do this.

And now I'm throwing the question back out there to the blogosphere: How do you take time to stop, rest, reflect, and renew?