Raise your hand…

If you would like more peace in your life.  Anyone have their hands up?  I suspect it may be most, if not all of us. Is it just me, or does peace seem increasingly elusive in our ever-quickening world?  Our pastor has used the word seatbelts many times over the years as he predicted that the world would get faster and faster.  And he was right.  And if you and I are on the same page, we are in agreement that it is only going to get faster.

So what do we do about it?

It is easy to get discouraged and feel that there is nothing we can do about it.  We just have to deal with it.  The world is going to you know where and we are helpless to stop it.  Woe are we.  The sky is falling.  All of that stuff.  But it doesn’t have to be that way.  There are ways to find some peace in the midst of craziness.  In the midst of a spinning mind full of urgency.  Here are a few ways…

Pursue Contentment.

Chase after it.  Seek it.  Contentment can be easily defined as it is well with my soul. That feeling of a gentle deep breath and slow exhale.  It is hard to find when our minds are constantly stimulated so the pursuit of contentment may involve less screen time.  Find those activities and adventures that bring you contentment and pursue them.  Finding contentment is a challenge, but it is a worthwhile pursuit.  If we commit to pursuing contentment, we will be much more likely to find it.  Here is some further reading on contentment if you want to go deeper.

Know Your Why

Simon Sinek wrote a book called Start With Why. Knowing your why or your purpose is hugely important!  My why in this season of life is this- to make a difference in this world for God and His kingdom that is utterly disproportionate to who I am.  That’s a big why and something that I will not fully achieve, but it is my due north.  The great thing about it is that I can look at decisions and commitments and if they are in line with my why, then I proceed.  If not, I have to re-evaluate.  Take time to learn your why.  If you need help, I would love to have a conversation!

Be a great friend.

Life is about relationships.  Our relationships to our family, our friends, our co-workers, and most importantly, to our Heavenly Father.  It is hard to have peace without good relationships.  To start out, ask yourself how you can be a good friend.  Does it involve more quality time with your people?  Becoming a better listener?  Having more empathy?  Being a better communicator?  To have good relationships, we can only control our side of the equation.  If we are being a good friend, chances are much better that we will have good friends.

And good relationships lead to contentment, which leads to peace.  And I don’t know about you, but I could use more it is well with my soul.

So as we close out this month about urgency…

I hope you have found a few ways to realize its hold and ability to distract us.  Hopefully you have learned a thing or two about how to overcome urgency and move forward in your quest to #WINtheNOW and live present in your own life.  We are all in this together, so don’t hesitate to reach out if I can help in any way.  Just know that you are amazing.  You have greatness inside of you.  And I believe in you!