PRACTICE: Make an appointment with yourself to do nothing. Get your calendar and do it now!
I am one of those people who move at a frenzied pace for days/months at a time. I am also one of those people who can get up from my desk to get a glass of water and forget what I want on the way to kitchen. I am that person who will promise to call and forget that I said it before I get to the car. I meet strangers, repeat their name twice during the initial encounter and forget the name before the conversation ends. Pride doesn’t allow me to ask again. To be perfectly transparent this is disturbing to me. I want to be better. I think my problem stems from the opening statement… “moving at a frenzied pace for days/months at a time.”
What is a solution NOT what is the solution? I don’t claim to have the ultimate answer. What I do know is that I am much more productive and engaging when I slow down.
What does slowing down look like for me? If I need water, I must focus my attention on the need and destination to the kitchen. I can’t allow myself to be distracted by the dust on the banister or the clothes that need to be folded as I walk pass the laundry room. As for the phone calls and remembering names, I am convinced that this happens because the clutter in my head is not silenced long enough for me to fully engage the conversation and the promises made. “A” solution to my challenge is to be fully present in the moment.
Have you ever been engaged in a conversation with a small child and was half listening? The child recognized the distraction and put their precious little hands on your face and said, “are you listening?” Slowing down for me is the little hands on my face saying, “are you fully present.” Slowing down for me means that I sometimes must schedule time for me. The end results of slowing down means less time wasted going back and forth between desk and kitchen, less time wasted trying to remember a name, less energy being embarrassed when next I see the person that I promised to call. I am able to be more productive and engaging in my interactions with others.
Slowing down works – I know it does – why don’t I practice what I know? I guess I am a slower learner!
Psalm 23:2
PONDER THIS THOUGHT – My pace has the potential to hinder the quality of my performance.
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