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Living on Fast Forward

I was chatting with a longtime blogging buddy via email last night, and we were ruminating about how fast this internet-driven world of ours changes and how fun/exhausting/exhilarating/discouraging it can be, and as I typed, my fingers moving faster than my brain (as is typical), I wrote, “I feel like I’m living life on Fast Forward.”

And my fingers stopped.

I looked at what I just wrote and realized that somehow, unexpectedly, I’d hit the nail on the head.

THAT is what the past two/three/four weeks have felt like. I feel like someone flipped a switch and suddenly life has been on Fast Forward.

Here’s the thing. I love this thing that I do. Or perhaps I should say, these things that I do. Because, as my husband can attest, as he has been trying to wrap his brain around my taxes (poor man; send espresso), there’s a lot. But I thrive on the busy, and I love the variety of things I get to do.

But sometimes?

Even I need to slow down.

So that’s what I did yesterday.  I pressed Pause.

After church was over and lunch was cleaned up, I poured myself a glass of a chilled white wine, downloaded a fluffy novel to the Kindle, settled into a corner of our cozy couch and started reading.

And promptly fell asleep.

Ah well, so much for a leisurely afternoon of reading. I did wake up in time to make a pot of chili for dinner and to play a rousing game of Qwirkle (great family game!) before the Super Bowl monopolized my family’s attentions for the rest of the evening.

I tuned in for the half time show (disappointing) and for a few commercials towards the beginning (hilarious) and the rest of the time I worked nearby on a new project I have going. (Don’t worry, Hon; it doesn’t involve launching anything. Ha!)

After a relaxing day yesterday and a good night’s sleep last night (no more monkey’s jumpin’ on the bed!), this morning I’m refreshed and raring to go. I realize it might have something to do with the mug of coffee I’ve recently injected into my veins, but I’m about ready to press the Play button and dive into a new week.  I’m going to try to keep it to an even keel this time.

What’s on your agenda this week?

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19 Responses

  1. It’s so important to stop for those breaks. I try to make Sunday afternoons, after church, my time to relax. I usually end up falling asleep, too! 😉

    I’m going to try to stop living in Fast Forward. That’s just not the way I want to be. Down the road, when I have time to hit the rewind button, I don’t want to realize that I raced through it all.

    1. Yeah, I’m trying to decide if I will feel that way, looking back. I can’t keep going the way I’ve been going the last week or two (and I won’t need to), but I do like to keep things hopping. 🙂

  2. I hear ya Sista! I feel the same way. Fast forward has been my speed for the past 3 months. Sometimes people’s needs trump your luxuries of hitting the Pause button. To the extent that last week I was in the dr’s office surrounded by pregnant women and finally grieved for a lost pregnancy I had in NOVEMEBER!!!! It hit me like a ton of bricks!
    This week, even though there is a full schedule, my goal is to breath…slow breaths and feel and see things, people and situations with an Eternal Perspecitve!

  3. Well, since you asked … Today, grocery, house-cleaning & Bible study here tonight. Tomorrow, homeschooling & community chorus rehearsal in the evening. Wednesday, homeschooling, laundry & Bible study/choir practice. Thursday, homeschooling, packing, laundry, cooking for the weekend. Friday, up early to the airport with hubby to fly to Iowa for him to candidate at a church, leaving the 3 kids home with lots to eat. Hectic week. Beginning each day with Scripture reading helps to keep me calm and focused, not panicked.

    1. Good advice, I’ve gotten out of that habit, unfortunately. I’ve also not been running, and I’m starting to feel it. I need to get back out there.

  4. Thank you for this today. My day was very similar yesterday, and I was feeling “guilty” for the pause. We did not have a big party to attend for Super Bowl, but I found myself hanging out with a couple of good reads beside me …..and also fell asleep. Finally wrote the whole day off…and decided I am entitled to a pause day every once in awhile.

    Thank you for putting your thoughts to “paper” that so many of us can relate to!

    Lisa

  5. There are days I feel so plugged in, it drives me crazy. A few weeks ago I stayed off of Facebook for a week, and entire week. And I have to admit, it was nice. We had a very relaxed weekend. We were out of school Friday and to be honest we all stayed in our pj’s till around 3. Saturday was the usual trip to the grocery store but that was it, no other running around. And Sunday was church and superbowl day. I did manage to find time to take a nap in between the two and it was great. Another we used to do and got of the habit but have started again, is no video games and no computer for the kids. And I try to adhere to the same. We usually end up having family game day or going out side to ride bikes or walk. It’s a great way to start the week by having that family time on Sunday. It kinda keeps me focused. Have a great week!

  6. This totally speaks to me. Ever since moving this past December, I feel like I haven’t stopped. Packing, unpacking, painting, cleaning, sorting, chucking, and somewhere in there there was Christmas and a couple of birthdays. I’m ready to slooooooow down. Pour me a glass of wine, I’ll be right there!

  7. yes Yes & YES! fast forward is exhausting! I took a Sunday that I didn’t change from my jammies all day.. completely refreshed me 🙂

  8. What is the “payoff” is the question I continually ask myself…if I’m going crazy because of schedules, work, etc. I alway ask myself is there a rewards(payoff) for me at the end of the activities…mostly now, there is, but there was a time when I continually said that famous line, “oh I can’t wait until this is done/over/finished”…..I now really catch myself if I start to say that because if I do, I know it’s time for a break, pause, day off, or a warning to say “no” to that activity next time….I love your blog, keep up the good work 🙂

  9. The whole “Sabbath” thing gets a bad rap sometimes. I’m convinced that God commanded us to take a day of rest, not only to replenish our spiritual well, but our physical and psychological one too! Is a Sunday that’s filled with church events a day of rest? Not for me! Church worship? Yes! Time to slow down and listen to what God might be saying to me? Yes! Quiet moments sleeping over a fluffy novel? Oh yeah!!

    1. I try to stay away from the computer on Sundays. We always go to church in the a.m. and try to keep it quiet in the afternoons. We often go back to a church event on Sunday nights, and I have mixed feelings about those. It depends on what it is. I enjoy the weeks we have a casual prayer meeting at a friend’s house, where we visit, share prayer requests and praises, have some light snacks, and just enjoy one another. We do that once a month, and those are my favorite Sundays. I haven’t worked thru the whole “Sabbath” thing for myself – I know Christians who are very careful Sabbath keepers and some who are very lax about it. I’ve heard a lot of convincing arguments pro and con, but I haven’t really worked it out for myself. We definitely keep Sundays for the Lord (with congregational worship) and for resting and spending time with friends and family.

  10. I have the opposite problem I seem to be stuck on pause the past couple of weeks. I blame it on the unbelievable amount of snow we have received. This southern girl wants to hibernate when it snows and ices over, sadly the amount of ironing I need to do is not going to let me pause more longer.

    This week I must (repeat MUST) get the ironing done, then there is tot school, dogs to bath, Doctor Who parties to plan, cupcakes to bake, fondant to make and other normal house wife related things.

  11. I know the feeling you are describing. I hate that I have to schedule time to relax, but I do. At least I make sure I do spend time relaxing!

  12. Yes this is so true. This weekend i purposefully shut off the alerts to my phone, computer, and ipad because i realized the constant buzz buzz buzz of a new message was encouraging my workaholism. I had such a relaxing weekend after that!! I think we could all stand to learn how to hit pause and just slow down.

  13. Wow! I know exactly what you mean. Some days I forget about me. Without a happy, healthy and whole life, the big picture gets a bit fuzzy. I try to take time for myself by working out, reading, or riding my horse. It is always hard to “take” the time but it is for the welfare of the family!

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