Try This as You Enter Into The Holiday Season

Was your week fast, furious and did it fly by quickly? Or maybe you were a little more aware and attentive to the pace of your life. Either way, you’re accepted here. At Walking in Grace, Inc. we’re about grace and being kind to ourselves as we learn together how to live on purpose, with passion and intention.

 As promised, the next few posts will provide you with simple, yet profound practices or disciplines to help you live fully alive.

Disciplines or Spiritual Practices are intentional ways we open space in our lives for the worship of God and to know ourselves better. If we “know thyself” well, we also know the deep heart of God. 

God, higher power or Spirit invites us into a personal relationship with Him. Let’s slow down and purposefully set aside time to quietly reflect and “be” with self and with God.

When we simply create margin in our lives we can experience all kinds of benefits.

One uncomplicated way to incorporate white space, like space on a piece of writing paper before we put the pen to it, is to sit.

Sit a Bit

It really is easy….. yet difficult.

“If you can’t take time to do nothing, you’re a slave to doing. Doing nothing is a radical, revolutionary act. It frees you from the universal slavery of our age: slavery to the clock. The clock measures doing but not being.” ~Peter Kreeft

Slowing down, remaining still and finding quiet can refresh and revitalize our souls. We’re all looking for a bit of that, aren’t we?

Then why is it so hard? It’s challenging because we have to-do lists, and long ones at that. We tell ourselves we don’t have enough time in our day to do nothing and we really don’t believe sitting a bit will really help.

I agree with these excuses and have used them myself. AND I have also been practicing what I’m suggesting. It’s changed my life in a couple of ways.

1.     Because I Sit a Bit on almost a daily basis, this practice is part of the rhythm of my day. Over the years, Sitting a Bit has embedded itself into the fabric of my life.

2.     I feel more empowered and aware of more choices throughout my day. For example, a few years ago I let my passport expire and didn’t realize it until I was going on a trip out of the country. I had one week to get my passport in order and didn’t know how I was going to do that.

Initially, I panicked as my heart raced. I was anxious and overwhelmed and fearful I wouldn’t be able to make the trip. My mind raced with awful scenarios and I was sick to my stomach.

I was so miserable and then remembered my discipline to Sit a Bit. Why not use that practice as I was experiencing all of these highly charged emotions and thoughts. I could stop moving, quiet my thinking and “be”. Maybe I would feel different and get some direction of what to do next.

I Sat a Bit.

It was hard! My mind wandered and raced all over the place about what I needed to do. My mind tried to convince my body to get up and move, “Just do something” it yelled at me.

Because I had been practicing this stillness, I knew the benefits. I had experienced the slowing down of my heart rate and thinking. I learned to take deep breaths and exhale fully.  

Slowing down, sitting still and simple breathing allows us to be present in the moment. It’s there, in that moment where we find God. It’s also where we find ourselves. 

As I sat a bit with God and my passport dilemma, I calmed down. To be fully honest, I had a really hard time sitting. But I did it anyway, for as long as I could….and then just a little longer. 

I felt a little more hopeful and reenergized to take on the task of getting all the information and money to the appropriate places in order to get my passport on time.

Bottom Line

In the beginning, when I introduced Sitting a Bit into my daily routine, I didn’t notice a difference for quite some time. Eventually, I realized I would take a few unscheduled, sporadic moments throughout my day to reenergize as I Sat a bit. Then, I found myself thinking about needing to Sit a Bit, just because. I began to feel physically, mentally and spiritually balanced.

As I continue to Sit a Bit as a part of my daily rhythm, I am learning to care for myself and am more aware of God’s quiet and strong presence. In His Word, he reveals himself in the whisper (1Kings 19:11-13)

Here’s the invitation to you. 

• Find a consistent time each day to Sit a Bit. Take 5, 10 or 15 minutes to sit and get still. Set a timer to help you settle into the quiet.

• What do you notice around you?

• Observe yourself Sitting a Bit. What are you feeling and thinking? Is there a pattern?

• How is God present with you as you quiet yourself?

Give this a try for 1 week, then another. There are about 8 more weeks left in 2019 to gift you with this new practice of stillness.  You will be amazed at how much more you will trust God with your time, gain freedom from addiction to hurry and learn to savor each moment.

May you find peace as you sit.