Striving to Be Still…and Know

This week, I am stepping out of reality. At least my reality. Of course, all will still be real, but not my normal real, and that is something I deeply need.

This week, work is minimized. There is no house tugging at me to Do…or reminding me that I haven’t. My normal caretaking responsibilities are suspended. My day will be driven by few HaveTos and more WantTos. I am blessed. This week I am aiming to shut out the mental pollution that clouds my everyday and…be still.

Be present. Fully present. This week I will tune in more closely.

I will do my best to listen to my son’s recap of some sweet game move he made and not answer with an auto pilot “uh huh…” but remember that someday he won’t be so ready to share such things…so I better listen now.

I will listen better to my husband, avoiding the distractions that plague us in our “normal” reality of working and living together. And…I will listen hard for God. Maybe he will speak louder among the beautiful pine trees stretching up toward heaven.

Maybe his voice will speak to me in a whisper floating on a lake breeze.

Maybe. But unless I am still, I will not know. “Be still, and know that I am God…” Psalm 46:10

I will fight the urge to fill my time with the never-ending responsibilities of life and decompress from the stress that is coursing through my veins. I will reconnect with nature…inhaling the beauty and exhaling the anxiety.

I will relax and make memories. I will rest. And then, before I know it, the week will be over.

And my “normal” reality will return. In the near future, my goal is to share with you some of what I have learned and benefited from in reading a powerful book called Overwhelmed—Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time by Brigid Schulte (this isn’t an official or paid endorsement—I just really valued the book). One of the many things that Schulte researched and explored is the value of play—the absolute critical necessity of it. Too many of us neglect this part of our lives, and I know I am one.

So as I return to my reality, it will be with my soul, to some degree, recharged. Refreshed. Renewed. My spirit revitalized.

My challenge will be for me not to lose what I have gained in the stillness but to keep it within…even if it is only a sliver of it all.

My week of stillness—and play—will sustain me for my “real” life—making me better able to think and breathe through life’s regular craziness. I am blessed to have this chance to fill my tank.