July 1 2019

When time is Slipping through Your Hands- Why You Need To Learn To Anchor Each Moment!

When Time is Slipping Through Your Hands - Why You Need to Learn to Anchor Each Moment

Do you find time slipping through your hands?  There is a solution!  Let’s talk about learning how to anchor each moment!  How was your week?  I spent a lot of time pondering time! Right now, I know that it is that time again; I have looked forward to this all week!  Grab your mug and set aside a few moments and let’s chat!

 I know we shared about time as a mindset just two weeks ago, but in my experience, time is a topic that has many facets and therefore is rich for discussion!ch

Make Room For the Breath

In the quick pace of the week past, the question that kept coming to mind in my quiet time was, “how do you make room for the breath in the day?” How do you mark moments so they will stick in your mind rather than allowing time to slip through your fingers as grains of sand? Is it possible to move through at a quick pace and still feel like we have breathed and were truly engaged in all that we have done?

 How often do we move robotically through our day, checking off items on our to do list, for the primary purpose of moving onto the next item, the next day, the next month, the next thing! I wonder if time would/could feel less slippery if we had a better awareness of how to find that breath and engagement in the day?

When What You Thought Were “Unimportant Distractions” Are Turned Into Important Framing Moments

As this swirled around in my thoughts all week, I took note as I painted

my toenails, noticed the cool of the kitchen floor on my bare feet, stopped and really looked at the flowers growing in my yard, took the time to sing along with the music on my car radio rather than using it just as background noise and found myself smiling and enjoying the bright yellow in my dress.  They were small things, seemingly unimportant and not related to all to the things on my to-do list. At first they seemed like only unimportant distractions, but as I thought more about it I realized that these “distractions” became important moments that helped frame my time.  As I sat and remembered these particular moments, I had more of a sense of what happened before and after these moments.  It took away a lot of the “blur” of the day and the feeling of haste.

It was an interesting revelation.  Not necessarily something that I hadn’t known before, but certainly something I haven’t been putting into practice.

What We Need to Know About Moments

In this moment there can be only today and now.  There needs not be a before or after.  If I chose to anchor in this moment I will truly live because when I anchor I honour the moment and my experience in it and that allows me to frame the rest of the time I spend.

How Do I Anchor The Moment? Intentionality and Reflection

There are many ways to anchor a moment. 

 1) Being intentional

Our time must be anchored. It must always be intentional and purposeful; in work or in rest, never wasted or allowed to skip by unnoticed.  That doesn’t mean we always have to be busy.  On the contrary, it gives us permission and space to acknowledge down times and rest in them.  How are we intentional about our time? By acknowledging the moments. Being aware of what we are doing and how we are engaging in it. 

 2) Turning autopilot off

Getting out of the habit of moving on autopilot and into the habit of attending to what we are doing is very important.  We can be thoughtful and reflective as we move, even when moving at high speed. This process will help to frame our time and take the “blur” out of the day. Each moment builds on the one before and a beautiful chain of living follows – like a lightning bolt that traces our path through time.

How Do I Anchor the Moment? Re-Framing and Gratitude

3) Re-framing our perception from one of getting through to enjoying in.

Life is not just about the end point. It is more like a game of connect the dots;   each moment a dot in the overall picture.  One moment not acknowledged leaves a gap in the image. We must commit to noting the moments. Time will pass by but you will have anchored it in the moments and a beautiful image of your experience with time will emerge.  An image, not just for you to look back on but for others to see as you walk your journey.

 4) Gratitude

Intentional gratitude is a wonderful habit to cultivate.  When we are intentionally grateful we begin to see things that we have never seen before; or even better, we begin to see the things we have always seen, but in a new way. Gratitude is taking the time to stop and smell the flowers (literally), the time to stop and engage and truly listen when we ask someone how they are, the time to appreciate the small pleasures in life.  We can also begin to find gratitude in the midst of situations we may not have planned or care to be in, by looking closely to find the lesson or the gift.

What I Know

We can anchor our moments and keep time from slipping through our hands, fully engaging and living our life through:

  • Making room for the breath
  • Allowing seemingly unimportant distractions to frame our time
  • Acknowledging that anchoring the moment allows us to honour our experiences
  • Acknowledging the moments
  • Being thoughtful and reflective, even as we move at high speed
  • Connecting the dots
  • Creating a picture of our journey – moment by moment
  • Being uniquely us
  • Enjoying the ride
  • Letting our hair down and letting the wind blow it where it will.

We are Children of God – we must let others see the joy that is in us, the joy that is uniquely ours and different from what the world has to offer.

Honouring Our Time Together

My cup is empty but my heart is full.  Our time together each week is a perfect example of anchoring the moment, being thoughtful and reflective and intentional about how we use our time.  I’m honoured that you have chosen to sit with me in these moments and I look forward to our time together again next week! 

 

Until Next Time

This week, begin to anchor your time!  Take the time to be intentional and grateful with your time.  A few blogs ago I offered an Attitude of Gratitude download to use.  Dig it out again and give it a whirl. Click here AttitudeofGratitudeMindMap to download it!

 If you are interested in more Devotional reading, head over to my Facebook Page where you will find a Weekly Devotion early every Monday morning. Click here to go directly to Weekly Devotions with Laurie.

Until next time,

From my heart to yours!

Laurie

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June 24 2019

My Journey, Your Journey (Sharing Our Stories)

My Journey, Your Journey (Sharing Our Stories)

Hello my friend – you know the drill – grab a cup of something hot in a fabulous mug and take a seat! How was your week?  What exciting things were you involved in? Were you able to find time to check out the last post on Time as a Mindset?  If not, scroll down further and you’ll see it there! I have been thinking a lot this week about My Journey, Your Journey; about sharing out stories and the challenges and benefits of doing so. 

What stories do you have to share?  What stories do you want to really listen to?  The sharing of our stories is an anchor of hope and unity in the Body of Christ.  If I can be real and comfortable in telling my authentic story and you can be real and comfortable in listening to my authentic story and vice versa – then we can begin to connect at a deeper and more meaningful level. Community and unity will follow.

We All Have A Story

We all have a story; every single one of us.  As a matter of fact, each one of us has numerous stories that add up to the one large story that serves as a map of our journey.  Most of us understand that we have a story, what many of us struggle with is not whether or not we have a story, but rather the significance of that story.  We wonder if we have a story worth sharing.  Sometimes we even understand that our story is worth sharing, but then we lose sight of the importance of stepping out and sharing that story.

Why Share Our Stories?

Why should we bother to share our stories and listen to the stories of others? 

 

1) The sharing of stories brings significance to our lives.

2) Framing and sharing our stories builds courage, vulnerability and resilience within us

3) Our stories encourage others

4) The sharing of stories creates community leading to unity

5) Sharing our stories teaches us to be listeners as well as talkers and receivers as well as givers

6) Character is built through the reflective process necessary in the framing and subsequent sharing of our stories and listening to the stories of others

Past Experiences With Sharing Our Stories

What has happened in the past when we considered sharing our stories?  We often wait to be asked to share out story. Some of us have never been asked to share our stories. This may have happened for a number of reasons. People can get caught up in their own stories.  They may believe/assume that they already know our story.  Or, they may want to listen to our story but they don’t know how to ask without coming across as intrusive.

 

When it comes to listening to the stories of others, sometimes we haven’t really known how to listen, receive, or respond.  This has resulted in discomfort, because although there was an effort on both parts, to tell the story and to listen, both of us walked away feeling uncomfortable and unwilling to go there again.

Changing Our Experiences - Authenticity and Framing

The first step to a positive experience in sharing out stories is to begin living and then sharing from a place of authenticity.  Our stories are easier to share when they come from our authentic lives, not lives that are built up and covered up. 

 

Then we need to learn how to frame our stories.  We need to become courageous and brave enough to dig deep for the real in our lives – to find the real essence of who we are and the stories that support that. 

 

Once we have begun to frame our stories, we can begin sharing. A big piece of sharing our story is carving out time to allow sharing to happen.  Time is of the essence.  Not allowing the time and space for sharing to happen can be one of the biggest barriers to effective sharing and listening of stories.  If you haven’t read last week’s blog post on Time as a Mindset that is a great place to start!

Changing Our Experiences - Encouraging And Listening

While we are preparing to share our stories, we can start encouraging those around us to share their stories. When they see us living from a place of authenticity and digging deep for real in our lives to begin framing and sharing our stories, they will be encouraged to begin on their journey to do the same.

 

We can also begin really listening to the stories of others.  We must be mindful to never get so caught up in our own stories that we neglect the stories of others.  Having the opportunity to listen to the stories of others is a gift and a privilege.  Hearing is a passive process.  Listening is an active process. If we begin to really listen to others, receive their stories with grace and actively engage in the exchange, the sharer of the story will feel cared for and will be more likely to step out and share their story again and again.

Why Does It Matter?

Why does it matter?  Is it really necessary to share our stories and hear the stories of others?  YES!  Life is a blank book full of pages waiting to be written on.  We often consider the living of our life all that is necessary to fill in those pages; but in reality, until we have shared that life, those pages only tell half the story!  When others only watch our life and never have the opportunity to hear our stories that leads to assumptions and misunderstandings.  Assumptions and misunderstandings about our life encourages us to build facades to make things look better and walls to keep others from getting too close to see the cracks.

 

The telling of our story encourages authenticity, transparency and clarity around who we are, where we’ve come from and where we are going.  The hearing of our authentic story encourages a deeper and truer understanding of the same.

 

Future Possibilities

When people come together and tell their stories and listen to the stories of others, new stories and future possibilities are created.  There is power in coming together and sharing.  Coming together allows for the power of creativity and ideas, the power of validation, the power of collaboration and the power of support and encouragement. 

 

The listener is encouraged and the sharer is validated.  Both have a good experience and they feel empowered to go out and engage in the process again. There is a more accurate and gracious understanding of one another.  Community and unity are created and grow. And the process continues.  People began to connect in a meaningful and deep way. People began to carve out the time and space necessary for continued connections.  The future possibilities are endless.

What Next?

Would you like to learn more about writing, telling and sharing your story? Would you like to learn how to really listen to the stories of others?

Let’s get on board and become fabulous storytellers and expert listeners – we live the material everyday – let’s begin to frame it, let’s put it on paper, let’s put it to hearts and minds and in doing so, build a community that lives in unity and can’t easily be pulled apart.

 I would love to hear from you!  Drop a comment below.  Tell me about your experiences with sharing your stories and where you would like to go from here!

Until Next Time!

Well, my friend, I can see the bottom of my tea cup which tells me it is just about time to go.  I am sure happy you took the time to drop in today.

See you again next week, same time, same place!

 

This week, begin to think about your experiences with telling your story and listening to the stories of others.  There is more for all of us if we commit to changing our past experiences and move into a future of possibilities through sharing out stories!

 

If you are interested in more Devotional reading, head over to my Facebook Page where you will find a Weekly Devotion early every Monday morning. Click here to go directly to Weekly Devotions with Laurie.

Until next time,

From my heart to yours!

Laurie

 

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June 17 2019

Time as a Mindset

Time as a Mindset

Good Morning my dear friend!  So happy you have a bit of time to spend together!  I trust that you’ve left last week behind and are all ready for the adventures of the week ahead.  Grab your mug and something to sip on while we chat.  I’ll wait right here for you!  I know you are very busy and your time is valuable.  Today I thought we could chat about time and our mindset of time. Are you settled in and comfortable?  Let’s get started.

Thoughts on Time

Here in Nova Scotia, second only to discussions about the weather, we spend most of our time talking about time. We talk about not having enough time, time moving too quickly, wishing we had more time, or the fact that the older we get the faster time passes.  We watch ourselves and those around us age.  Things that we remember as happening “just the other day”, in reality happened weeks or months and sometimes, years ago.  We spend so much time focusing on time, I wonder if we lose something of the value of the time we do have?

Mindsets

I believe our concept of time has become caught up in a mindset. The Merriam Webster Online Dictionary describes the term mindset this way: 1) a mental attitude or inclination 2) a fixed state of mind (retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mind-set). So a mindset is a fixed way of looking at something.

 

I believe our focus on time has become so fixed that it has become a distraction and sometimes an excuse for not living life intentionally. Our mindset has become one of “not enough” and “too quickly” and because of that we have preconceived notions of what our time looks like.  These preconceived notions impact the reality of the time we have and out intentional use of that time.

Time in a Bottle

When I think of time in a bottle I see an elaborate hourglass filled with fine sand; one in which you can sit and watch the time slowly move from present to past as it slips from the top to the bottom.  There is something about an hourglass that seems to slow time down; perhaps because it is a concrete way to watch the passage of time. Time seems to pass so much more slowly when you are waiting on it and watching it.

 

But our current mindset tells us that time doesn’t move slowly, but quickly.  Because it moves quickly, we believe we need to move quickly to somehow keep up with it or even to get ahead of it. It is like we are trying to outwit and out race the time we have.

Shifting Time

What happens when you shake an hourglass?  There is a shifting in the measure of the time.  What if we were to give our mindset about time a shake?  Could we shift the passage of time in our own lives?

Time

Time

take the time

you have the time

don’t get bogged down in

     what if’s and should have’s

time is precious

like drops of water

     in the desert

breathing life into your days

time

the hands move quickly or slowly

depending only on your mindset

change your mind

control the time

it is your time

What I Know About Time

1) God will redeem the time – He has done it before, He will do it again.  Give Him the first fruits of your day/time and the rest will follow. Seek His face first and early and the rest will fall into place.

2) If we are walking in God’s plan and purpose for our life – we can’t rush the time – so settle into it.  Lean in and let it happen; don’t rush it and don’t resist it.

3) When we are on a good path, we need to stop questioning and just take the next step.  The next step knows where we are going. 

4) We need to learn to live more lightly – there is much seriousness in the world.  We need to make a space for laughter, rest and relaxation with friends, good food and conversation, a good cup of tea and some time in the sun.

5) Stop thinking and start doing. Sometimes we are so focused on “how much time” something is going to take that we talk ourselves out of it.  Just do it!

6) Acknowledge God in the everyday.  God is not just for Sunday’s, He is an everyday God.  We must acknowledge His presence in our everyday.  Seek Him early and He will guide and direct your daily path and time will take care of itself.

Life is a Marathon not a Spring

As I sat with Jesus this week, I heard, “life is a marathon, not a sprint – you need to learn to breathe through.”

Because our mindset around time is “not enough” we often sprint through the days trying to cram as much into each minute/hour as we can.  At the end of the day we may feel productive, but we are also exhausted and often unfulfilled.  If we were to shift our mindset and sit and watch that sand as it moves slowly but deliberately through the hourglass we would see that there is lots of time and it moves at a marathon pace.  If we could shift our mindset to one of the tortoise rather than the hare, the race could still be run and at the end of the day we would feel productive and fulfilled.

Realistic Expectations

How is it that we can create a list a mile long for ourselves; one that we wouldn’t reasonably expect from anyone else and then condemn ourselves at the end of the day when the list is not checked off? How is it that we can own the unrealistic expectations of others and society in general to be everything to everyone and to achieve more than is possible in any given time frame?  When will we make a decision for ourselves and for our own families, to step back, change out mindset, flip the hourglass and start making realistic expectations for ourselves and those we love with regard to our use of time?

The Path, Plan and Purpose

We were created unique and with a plan and a purpose. The Lord has a beautiful path mapped out for us.  The journey is ours to make. Our mindset about time is an important starting point for success on this journey.  If we move forward with a mindset around time of “not enough” and “quickly” we will find ourselves sprinting through our life.  If we can shift our mindset around time to “all I need” we will more quickly learn that life is a marathon.  We will find our pace, our stride, our groove, and we will quickly move into a rhythm for our journey that is not only enjoyable but is also maintainable.

Next Steps

So what does all this mean practically?  Here are some next steps for you.  First off, how are you using your time?  This week take a notebook and start writing down what you are doing with your time, even for a few days.  You will be amazed at two things: 1) the number of things you actually get accomplished, and 2) the amount of time you have that you are not using as productively as you could be. Mindsets change when we 1) realize that there is an inaccuracy with our perception, and 2) when we make an effort to reflect on where we are and where we are going. 

 

Now that you have noted how you are spending your time, what changes would you like to make?  Start small and be consistent.  Do you have some quiet/prayer time slotted in each day?  If not, start with that.  Start with 15 minutes a day and work up.  Remember, God will redeem that time and your walk with Him will improve exponentially as you spend time in His Presence!  What other changes would you like to make?  Start adding them one at a time and over a period of a few weeks, your mindset will begin to shift.  Shifts in mindset take time, so don’t get discouraged, just work it through!

Until Next Time

Well, my friend, my tea cup is empty and I see that our time for this week is up.  I sure enjoy our time together!  Go forth this week and be awesome and start reflecting on your time mindset.  Remember, time = marathon rather than sprint and “sufficient for the day” rather than “not enough”.

 

See you again next week, same time, same place!

 

If you are interested in more Devotional reading, head over to my Facebook Page where you will find a Weekly Devotion early every Monday morning. Click here to go directly to the Weekly Devotions with Laurie.

Until next time,

From my heart to yours!

Laurie

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