relax

Summer officially arrived on June 21. The time of lazy days and easy living.

But is it? For most of us, life doesn’t slow down at all.

Why don’t we give ourselves permission to rest in this wild, busy world? What compels us to think we have to meet all the demands put upon us?

Writers face manuscripts to finish, blogs to post, social media to keep up with, craft books to read, conferences and workshops to attend. It’s easy to constantly be busy, moving, doing, and fail to slow down to settle into peace even on the rare occasions where it’s right in front of us. And, it’s not only writers.

So many things pull for our time and attention. We become weary. Yet we keep on keeping on, endlessly moving and doing.

Have you noticed that even when we do stop to rest and sit on the porch swing with a favorite book to sip a glass of iced tea we fidget? Our toes tap. Thoughts hammer rat-a-tap-tap like a woodpecker in our heads. It’s not easy to be still.

For some reason we tend to think by working hard and wearing ourselves out, we validate our value to the world. Faulty thinking that hinders rest.

We equate being busy with worth. But does being productive prove our worth?  Not necessarily.

Busyness can be an addictive, but busyness doesn’t have to be the boss of us.

We can break the habit. We can step off the busyness treadmill by taking moments for inner peace.

All we have to do is STOP.

Take five minutes to sit in the quiet. (If small children or pets are around, this may involve going into a closet or the bathroom and locking the door.)

Just. Be. Quiet. No TV. No music. No books, no journals.

Sit, close your eyes, and breathe. In – Out. In – Out.

Enjoy the peacefulness.

You might be surprised by what a time of rest can do to your peace of mind and productivity.