All In

It seems these days that we fill our lives so full that we don't have the time to pay attention to what is really important. We work. We have church and church activities. We have kids that need help with homework we don't understand. We cram our kids schedules so full of activities and sports and chores that they don't know what it's like to just be a kid. They think this is just how life should be - chasing after the wind. We are teaching them that to relax is lazy and that you have to always have somewhere to go or something to do or you aren't normal. God specifically set aside a day for rest. Not only do our body and mind need the downtime to recoup and refresh, but setting aside time to just be still and reflect, gives us a renewed perspective. It gives us time to look inward and explore if what we are in pursuit of is of any real value or if it is just a chasing after the wind. It gives us time to prioritize and decide what (or who) we want to spend our precious time on. If we do not give ourselves this decompression time, we are more stressed and irritable and can even become resentful. We are more likely in our state of over-involvement to allow the urgent to crowd out the important. We only have a limited amount of minutes in this life. Filling them up with meaningless junk leads to a deathbed full of regret and emptiness. To lead a truly full life, we must empty it of what is temporary and trivial. Strip away what is unnecessary clutter to make room for your life to really breathe.