Hanging on Too Tightly
14 January 2022
A Hobby That Fills my Soul
1 June 2022There is a Time for Every Season
There is a Time for Every Season
As one who has observed behavior for years, I find it interesting to turn the tables and try to observe my own from time to time!
In recent years, I’ve noticed an increase barrage of daily posts, emails, invites, and online meetings coming across my desk. So many invitations can pull us in different directions creating a whole lot of BUSY.
Simplifying life is top of my mind each season. This habit started during a crisis in my first year of marriage, when my husband lost his job due to the economy, and I was working part-time. We had $16.00 in the bank and no income for the foreseeable future. Weeks earlier we lost my father-in-law to a heart attack, and then my lost my grandmother.
We had no choice but to sell everything and move into a tiny one-bedroom apartment, and return to university. These were tight, tough, and trying times. Yet for some reason, years later, we can only remember the good things–like the new friends we made, the shared times in our cozy kitchen, or the odd treat getting to eat at McDonald’s every month.
Those days were formational for us a a couple and as individuals. The challenges we faced instilled in us a strong will to persevere, a greater awareness of what is important in life, and it spurred us onto embracing a simpler lifestyle with gratitude while focusing on who and what is most important to us
… What discernment process do you use to determine the best thing upon which to place your focus?
These days, as we face greater distancing from one another by staying home more, we have a new opportunity to decide how we want to spend our time.
The question I pose today is: What are you doing with your gift of time? And … what discernment process do you use to determine where place your focus? And … finally … What’s the purpose for why you are doing what you’re doing these days?
I know I need to continue to simplify my life and creatively spend more time with God and with those I love and cherish, and try to serve in my community. I don’t want to miss the gift to reflect, pray, prioritize, and focus on calling and mission. I will continue to hit the reset button when I catch myself caught up in just being BUSY because I am uncomfortable with time I have at my disposal.
For me, I’m learning to say no, and I’m sure that I disappoint some (by saying “no”) but more importantly I am making choices to invest in the things that are eternal, life giving, and soul nurturing , so that as I am called upon and respond with a “yes”, I am able to serve with love, gratitude, compassion, and empathy.
… What’s the purpose for why you are doing what you’re doing these days?
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Fern E. M. Buszowski
MALM, MA Counselling (CPC)
Speaker | Author | Thriving Cancer Survivor
Bringing words that encourage hope, faith, and love through the journey of life.
www.hopeblooming.ca
