Living an unmeasured life.
This is my goal this year.
I don’t know about you but I was at the point in my life where I was measuring too much.
I had a check list I would keep in my prayer journal to check off my spiritual, relational, intellectual, emotional, career, physical, and financial goals.
As a wellness teacher, I believe in S.M.A.R.T. goals, yet I personally have gotten to a point where if I got to the end of my day and didn’t check the box, my inner dialogue would be focused on what I didn’t do rather on what I did accomplish that day.
I am in a place where I know what serves me best so that I can serve others well. So this year I am stepping away from tracking my life and will be more focused on living my life.
At the end of the day, I don’t want to see that I am 100 steps short of my goal, I want to see that I enjoyed my walk on the trail with a friend, or by myself. I want to know I made time to visit with my neighbor instead of making sure I listened to a podcast. I want to make room to be more present with, and for, others rather than focusing on my checklist, giving myself the freedom for God to move my feet instead of having my steps predetermined each day.
I will share that I’ve stopped tracking the steps on my walks, and it is freeing!
I will be transparent that I am running a race in June so I will need to track my mileage to train, but that is what it needs to be, a tool, not a measure of my worth.
I share all of this in case you too have reached a point where life has become a checklist of goals to complete each day. If so, I invite you to join me to…
pause. breathe. pray.
May we release the need to check off lists to feel like we are enough. May we stop measuring our lives by our own standards, or by the standards other people have set for us. Instead, may we live close to God and the principles He calls us to. When we do this, we are freed from the checklists, from the feeling of not being enough, and we will find greater freedom, joy and peace within - which is what we are all aiming for anyways, isn’t it?
With love and hope,
Shawn
Honoring Community Heroes: Remembering Those Who Serve Quietly
It’s been a wintry wonderland over here this weekend. And as beautiful as it is, my thoughts are beyond the snow covered trees. I keep thinking about the people who get up in the middle of the night to salt and clear the roads. The ones who run on coffee and their hearts to serve and take care of their communities. While we sleep and remain comfortable, there are people working to ensure safe roads for the rest of us.
This week our community lost someone who did just this, two boys lost their Dad, parents lost their son, a sister lost a brother and many of us lost a friend.
I share this today as a reminder that there are people quietly serving in our communities every day. From plowing the roads in winter, mowing the common areas around town in the summer, taking care of the towns pools and other facilities. They work off hours, their names often aren’t known by the larger community, yet their efforts daily make our communities the comfortable, safe places they are.
I invite you to join me to…
pause. breathe. pray.
May we always remember the helpers, the ones who choose work that serve our communities. May we give thanks for the work of their hearts and hands, and when we get a chance, let’s be sure to say thank you to them for who they are and all they do, every season.
Thank you, Dave. Your presence will be missed as a friend, and in our community🙏
With love and care,
Shawn
Processing Emotions with Faith: The Power of Pausing, Praying, and Letting Go
Yesterday I brought Gavin back to school. It was a great month with everyone back in the house. Yet reality is, it’s not where Kate and Gav need to be anymore. They need to continue to grow into their future selves elsewhere.
After dropping Gavin off, I went to grab my phone to call someone but I paused.
I went to grab food in the car to eat, but I paused again.
I went to play some music but turned the radio off.
I was sad.
And that pause showed me how rather than acknowledging my emotions, I was looking to distract myself and fill myself with other things- conversation, food, distraction.
So I sat there driving and acknowledged my sadness. I prayed about how I was sad and that I know my kids are where they need to be yet I was still sad to let them go again.
And then I did something I don’t allow myself to do often enough.
I cried. Like ugly cried and it was so therapeutic. Rather than stuffing away my emotions, I was able to process and pray through them.
And afterwards? I felt lighter. I didn’t need to dwell in the sadness, I just needed that time to release it.
I share this with you today in case any of you too don’t allow yourself to process your emotions.
I invite you to join me to…
pause. breathe. pray.
May we remember God gave us our emotions and it’s okay to have them. Instead of turning to the phone, the food, the music, or whatever your go-tos are, may we pause long enough to acknowledge our emotions. Let’s pray how we can process them in a healthy way, even if that requires an ugly cry. Let’s do this so rather than stuffing those emotions away internally and keep them with us, we release them and learn from them, as I was thankful to do yesterday.
With love and hope,
Shawn