Our lives often seem like over-packed suitcases bursting at the seams. In fact, we are almost always aware of being behind schedule. There is a nagging sense that there are unfinished tasks, unfulfilled promises, unrealized proposals. There is always something else that we should have remembered, done, or said.
Henri Nouwen
We live in a fast-paced world with fast cars, speed boats, airplanes, fast foods, takeaways, speed dials, same day delivery and crushing deadlines. We are forever on the go. Everyone is in a hurry to get to some place and wants to arrive at their destination twenty minutes ago so we don’t mind brushing off the slower person in front of us without an apology, or driving at dangerous speeds, flout traffic laws and generally become a bit less human. Little wonder there are raised stress levels and increased incidents of heart diseases, even among otherwise young people.
As young persons, we have long-term goals and strive earnestly to achieve those goals but as important as it is to set goals, we must not let them become slave drivers, depriving us of sleep, unnecessarily stressing us, hurting our relationships be it with God, family, friends or that special someone, keeping us in perpetual guilt when we seem to come short, choking us up until we almost feel breathless. We are so much in a hurry that we don’t notice the little surprises God sends to spice up our day.
And don’t come up with the “it is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth” line. Definitely, he has to but the yoke need not constantly leave him weighed down and bent out of shape or skyrocket his stress level.
Carry as much as you can. Stop trying to clutch more things when your hands are already full. You will end up losing the things you already have. By the way, Jesus has a panacea for persons who are over-burdened and burned out.
And he [Jesus] said to them, [As for you] come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest for a while- for many were [continually] coming and going, and they had not even leisure enough to eat
Mark 6:31 (The Amplified Bible)
Could you please find some time in your very busy schedule to retreat? Decipher what’s important and what is not, try and declutter your life and in Jesus’s voice separate the wheat from the chaff. Be thorough because sometimes, the things we think are essential are not, and we’ll do well without them. Find time to rest too, it will help you refuel and keep you from breaking down, even machines break down when overworked.
I’ll end with a quote I stumbled on some time ago “What will happen if we simply slowed down? It may take longer to reach the destination, but the journey will be more enjoyable”.
-by ‘Naza
Live by Design
