I love books that give me a path, a framework, or recommendations for how living differently can create or add joy to my life. There are a few books that have literally changed how I live my life. The first one is Miracle Morning written by Hal Elrod. It changed the way I start my day. From meditation to journaling, it impacts the way I show up in the world for myself and others. I regret every morning that I do not do all the elements of my Miracle Morning.
The Total Money Makeover written by Dave Ramsey also changed my husband and my lives. We learned how to budget, hold each other accountable (no matter how challenging), pay off our ridiculous amount of debt and start truly living our lives like responsible adults. Not everyone agrees with the Baby Steps outlined in the book, but I was sincerely influenced by what I read. We put the principles into place immediately. We also had to practice boundaries. I say that as if the “practice” were in the past. We are still working on this together!
The next book was recommended to me by a friend. I finished it last week and texted her that I would be writing a blog about the topic. The title? The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer. It had a certain ring to it. I had just finished reading the book Quiet, by Susan Cain which challenges our country’s infatuation with extroversion. This idea of eliminating hurry seemed to align with this book. It also resonated and intrigued me.
From this book, I committed to doing four things to help reduce, not eliminate the hurry in my life. I wanted to share them with you without spoiling the whole book with you because I highly recommend that you read or listen to it for yourself. The recommendations that are put forth are many so you can choose what works best for you. I committed to family dinners on Sundays, keeping my iPhone screen grayscale, practicing my Miracle Morning. Wait for it…coming to a full and complete stop at traffic signs and lights causing a slight pause and an opportunity to breathe.
As I was writing this blog, I had another friend tell me that she stubbed her toe over the weekend. The weekend before, my sister-in-law had an incident with a gym mat and she recently had her toenail removed. I also learned that a staff member at my church had also had a foot injury during a wedding.
Similarly, I’ve been dropping a lot of things lately. I literally will try to carry five or six things in my arms every time I walk out to my car or walk back into the house from my car. I look at the load and think, “this is too much.” But I try anyway. More often than not, I drop at least one thing, get frustrated and have to come back for it.
I am witnessing a connection between the things we carry, both physically and mentally with the need to hurry from one activity to another. What are we afraid of? What if we actually did have enough time to do the things that mattered to us? What would happen if we were totally present with our family? What if we were intentional about silence of both internal and external noise? My guess is that we would not drop as much.
Here’s to you! For all that you do and for all that you are. You will always be of great worth and value regardless of what you perform or how many things you accomplish.