I’m sitting in my bedroom right now doing a routine I often do on Sunday. I’ve explained this routine to my children using the metaphor that when a computer slows down, the ram has become overloaded and when you restart the computer and voila, it runs better.
I, like many other responsible adults, carry a lot of things that I need to remember in my “temporary memory” and that gets overloaded. I do a weekly (in stressful times – daily) “brain dump” where I sit down and write out everything I can think of.
I then take my list and prioritize it according to my values and the vision and mission I have laid out for my family, finances, work, etc. It is a constant checking and re-aligning. I do not perform this due to a fear I will miss anything, but more out of a stress relief. It helps me to stand with certainty that the choices I have made have been thought through thoroughly.
Back to this moment – I am taking the time to experience and remember, be present. I listen to all the noises surrounding me and I have peace. I can hear the waves crashing in the ocean, the Cape Town wind blowing, but more than that, I hear my nine year old playing a duet on the piano with my wife playing her cello.
My Bible is opened to Proverbs 8 and I am reminded of the security I have and all that I have been given by the perfect judge and creator.
I am at peace. I pray you are as well.
Action Step
What is something you do to reset? If you’ve never tried it, I encourage you to try a “brain dump” by putting a 10-minute timer on and writing out everything you are currently thinking or worrying about. Things as minute as: “don’t forget you need laundry detergent soon” to big things like “next paycheck I need to change the oil.”