How are you? The holidays is always a busy time, whether it's parties, travel, gift hunting, hosting—all good things. But in the slivers of downtime, are you resting? Not just physically, but are you resting your mind, your spirit? Are you letting your mind dwell and savor? I sure have a hard time resting, dwelling.
I was reminded of this, when my friend asked me how it's going? I told her I was doing great and a few recent things I was thankful for, and then promptly cascaded on her how I wish I did this and this differently. She stopped me in my tracks and said, “Karen, don't do that to yourself. That is a lot of emotional burden. I pray that you can find peace throughout your day, when you're illustrating, caring for your boys, packing cards, cooking…”
She was right. I know the right thing is to be thankful, but then I quickly let my mind shift. Whether that's shifting to “should's" and “could have's” — “I wish I could've done more of…;" "Next year, I should…” — or shifting because my mind is so distracted by my to-do lists or whatever is calling my attention. Letting my mind dwell on regrets or expectations is the recipe for anxiety. Letting my mind wander and not dwelling on anything is the recipe for restlessness.
So my encouragement to you, as well as to myself, is to be intentional about what your mind is dwelling on. I want my thoughts to dwell more in thankfulness, as opposed to all my “should's” and “could'ves.” What do you want your mind to dwell on?
Here are few practical things I'll be doing to dwell in thankfulness.
- Start the day/workday with meditation or prayer of thankfulness.
- List on paper things I'm thankful for and continue to add to it
- Write a letter weekly to someone and share why you're thankful for them.
- Take a walk and notice the winter landscape.
