Slow Down... One at at Time!

We've all seen a kid do this, right? They get a fist full of some sugary something or a plate piled high with their favorite whatever and they GO TO TOWN. They shovel it in like nobody's business until it hits them like a ton of bricks - the stomach ache, the crash, the lack of desire to ever eat that particular thing again (at least for the next 20 minutes).

As their parents, what's our caution to them? "Slow down . . . one at a time!" We want them to enjoy it. We don't want to see them take something that could be helpful or fulfilling and turn it into something that sucks any joy or usefulness out of the equation.

Funny how we struggle to take our own advice. At least I do. For those of you who know me at all (or probably if you've ever met me for a brief moment), you know that I am Type A to a very unhealthy extreme. I plan everything down to the minute, try to predict and account for every possible scenario, make lists to keep track of my lists, have a mild coronary every time something is out of order. It's how I've always been, it's a habit I have spent years trying to break. And here's why - running at the speed of light every day, setting a pace that is humanly impossible to achieve with a list of to-do's that are also humanly impossible to accomplish in a 24 hour period will literally drive me crazy if I don't knock it off. It's unhealthy and unfair to myself and everyone around me.

My energy breaks came to a screeching halt recently (as has happened many times before). I tried to pack 487 hours worth of tasks into a single day and I felt like a failure when I laid my head down on my pillow that night. How could I be so inefficient? What if someone saw the state of my messy house? How did I get through this entire day feeling like I never sat down while also feeling like I accomplished nothing at all?

It sucks all of the joy out, doesn't it? When I try to shovel it all in and forget to slow down, I lose all perspective and any sense of peace. I miss special moments with my kids, I overlook the fact that my husband's sitting right next to me, I forget to talk to God. Life revolves around all of my to-do's and I burn out. I slam into that unforgiving wall of overload and crash hard, leaving me with nothing left to give. Those are terrible moments that make all the good moments seem to fade into the background.

So for me, I'm choosing to SLOW DOWN. I'll stumble and fumble through this I'm sure, but I'm making a conscious choice to take life one thing at a time and let God take over the things I have no business trying to control anyway. I'm trying to focus on the little things that make each day so great instead of the list of things that make each day so hectic.

Care to join me?