Balancing a Hurried Life
Each of us get 24 hours a day. Not a minute more or less. Going through our day and schedules, even when demanding, with the mindset of not feeling hurried can bring balance and clarity.
My pastor, Steve Davis of TrueNorth Church recently spoke about how being busy and hurried in life are two different things. The next week I watched a short but powerful Ted Talk from Dr. Darria Long speaking about the harm in saying we are “crazy busy”. She instead encourages us to live each day being in “ready mode” by triaging our schedules and demands according to the importance or severity of them.
I would say that it was a coincidence that I heard both of these around the same time, but this was something I needed to hear and wanted to share with you.
Below are some key takeaways that hit home:
• “The solution to our hurry is not having more time but making time for the INNER man before the OUTER man”. Quiet time or time for reflection prepares our spirit. I think of this as “soul care”.
• “ELIMINATE the stuff that doesn’t matter so you can PURSUE the things that matter most”.
• “The SPEED of your life defeats the DEPTH of your life”.
Feeling hurried or “crazy busy” on a daily basis creates stress. Since our brains process stress in similar ways, controlling the way we respond and react to stress is modifiable and what we should place our primary focus on.
Below is a way from Dr. Long to help modify daily stress:
CRAZY MODE vs READY MODE
Overact to Everything vs Relentlessly Triage
Unprepared vs Expect and Design for Crazy
Derailed by Inner Monologue vs Get out of Your Head
Let’s dive in a little deeper into what ready mode means:
Ready Mode
Step 1: Relentlessly Triage and prioritize by degree of urgency. (Threat vs non-threat)
• Red – immediately life threatening
• Yellow – serious, but not immediately life threatening
• Green – minor
Step 2: Expect and Design for Crazy: make tasks easier to do and find ways to reduce daily decisions.
We can do this by
• PLANNING
• AUTOMATE
• COLOCATE
• DECREASE TEMPTATIONS.
Step 3: Get out of your Head: actively focus daily on others. When we place our focus others, we feel compassion and our brain allows us to see more options.
I encourage you to watch both of these talks and have placed the links below.
https://truenorthchurch.com/media/series/736mx9r/silent-killers- Jan 15,2023
https://www.ted.com/talks/darria_long_an_er_doctor_on_triaging_your_crazy_busy_life
There is value when we own the busy while not calling it crazy.
This is harder than it sounds.
I am challenging myself as well as you to triage and slow down so more value can be placed on relationships instead of tasks.
Let’s take time this week to focus on what is important while we balance showing compassion to others with our own “soul care”.
Give yourself Grace,
Lynn
Need an Aromatherapy Diffuser Blend that will help you slow down and focus?
Mix 2 drops of lemon oil, 1 drop of basil, 1 drop of rosemary oil, and 1 drop of peppermint oil in a diffuser.
Breathe deeply.
We carry aromatherapy synergy blends for a variety of issues. You can also schedule an aromatherapy consult and leave with a custom blend along with education concerning a more holistic approach to balancing your life.
Say NO to being crazy busy!
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