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Lately, I've been thinking a lot about being intentional. Every choice we make in the moments, shape our days, and shape our lives. Even our non-choices are in fact, choices. Choosing not to do something is choosing something else, and in essence, choosing against that something. If we're not careful, we can unintentionally say no to things that we don't even realize we're rejecting. Scary.
Am I alone in this? I think in this era of our culture, it is so easy to not think about our choices. We are so distracted by all the things around us. When we're in line at the grocery store, sitting at a red light, waiting on a friend at a restaurant - whenever we have any dead time - we are checking our email and our Instagram and Twitter feeds. We choose distractions, instead of reflecting on our choices, past and present. We don't just sit and think. I am just as guilty of this as the next person. What impact does this have on us? On our relationships? On society?
I want my actions to be intentional. I want them to mean something. Even my non-actions. I don't want to look back at this decade in my life and think, why did I do that? Or, why didn't I do that? I want to know why, because I thought about it.
In a practical sense, this might mean choosing to call a friend or family member to catch up when I'm tired from a long day at work. Or, it might mean leaving my phone and computer in the other room while I spend quality time with my husband. It might mean asking someone hard questions that I'm really not sure I want the answer to. It might mean investing money in a non-profit or ministry instead of investing in my wardrobe or my home. It might mean spending a couple hours baking alone simply just to slow myself down.
Whatever it is, I don't want it to just happen. I want to choose it.
Or not choose it.
"In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die. Where you invest your love, you invest your life."
- Mumford & Sons
I totally agree. It's so easy to get consumed with busyness of the mind and body, wasting time on things that are meaningless. It's a hard line to walk especially as bloggers because we want to be connected..want to stay informed...want to reach our readers. But we still need time to be present..to be still..and to be intentional. Good truth sister :)
ReplyDeletewhat a beautiful post. i agree with you and i don't want to just float through life but with my time and my energy to do things for a specific purpose i don't want to waste what i have been given the precious gift of time
ReplyDeletei agree! sometimes it is really hard to be intentional with our time but I know we should!
ReplyDeleteSo very true. I think this can be scary to think about as well. You are definitely not alone!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful said. I completely agree with you here, girl!
ReplyDeletethis is a good reminder. i have a tendency to go, go, go! without taking a minute to think and rest and spend time in prayer. i need to realize that my choices not only affect me, but others as well, and the habits that i make today will affect my future relationships. this is a much needed read!
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