They did it!
My big kids did their Memory Master thing! They all successfully finished their exams without any mistakes and earned their titles as Memory Masters. I wrote about the specifics of the test last week (you can read about it here), but suffice it to say that they each had to memorize hundreds of pieces of information for this exam (and my big girl over 1000!) and they did it! So I have two Memory Masters and one Mega Memory Master, and they have the t shirts to prove it!
So we’ve wrapped up the official school year, celebrated with ice cream, and I taught my meditation class. And yet, I woke up morning after morning this week feeling worried and behind. No matter what milestones we reach, there’s always more to do. It feels like I should catch up at some point, since I’m always running so hard to get everything done! Time keeps passing, and things need to be done, so I keep my feet moving. But just because my feet are moving, something in me thinks that my mind has to be wound up and frenetic or I’ll miss something.
That’s not really working well though. If I let my mind run the show, I’ll be locked up in a straightjacket before my kids get to college! That or drinking heavily to calm the racket in my brain. Since neither of those are a good option, I meditate. Every. Day. It’s that important. It’s my time in the early morning to still my mind and listen to God so I can get calm for the day ahead. Now, don’t get me wrong: Every day I sit down to meditate isn’t some zen nirvana experience. Plenty of mornings I watch my mind race around like a two year old after a massive slice of birthday cake with ice cream on top! But it’s good to know where my mind is so I can help it settle back down. It’s the practice of stilling the mind that makes it easier to settle when I need to.
So this week I got up feeling anxious and sat down on my pillow to meditate. Some days my mind zipped around. But one of the days as it tried to worry about all that needed to be done, it got quiet for a minute and I heard it. This quiet voice said, ” You have all the time you need.” And I said, “Really?” I mean, that doesn’t seem right. I don’t feel like I ever have enough time! But that quiet statement just kept coming back.
I’ve been giving it a lot of thought this week. Do I really have all the time I need? Certainly, we all have the same 24 hours in a day. Most of us sleep for 6-7 hours a day, so we all have the same waking hours. With all the things I worried about not getting done, what did I do with the time I had?
Prepared for three potlucks.
Wrote cards and wrapped gifts for the kid’s teachers for the end of the school year.
Washed my hair.
Went shoe shopping with my middle girl.
Made multiple raw food meals for myself.
Lunch! Raw cucumber gaspazcho…
Did surgery and food shopping when I was in the city.
Saw patients in the office.
Did some writing.
Finished my laundry.
Worked on the August office schedule.
Celebrated the kid’s accomplishments by looking at puppies and eating frozen custard!
I’m sure I’m leaving some things out – you know, there are always the things that you do as you go that weren’t planned for. But in the end, it all got done. And yes, there are still things on my list, and since I’m working this weekend, I won’t be able to use that time for catch up. But worrying about the things I did this week didn’t help me get it done. In fact, because I listened to God’s quiet whisper, I stopped worrying about how I was going to get it all done and did what I could each day. Worrying would have made it so much harder! Try it – when you feel worried about getting it all done, use this as a mantra. “I have all the time I need.” Or, “God gives me all the time I need.”
What I’m learning is that everything can get done in the time I’m given. I may not be able to get it all done and watch all the TV shows I’m interested in, or read all the books I have stacked up to read. At least, I can’t do it as fast as I want! But that would be having all the time I want, not all the time I need. Learning to trust that I have what I need helps me to calm my mind when it wants to whirl around in worry. And living in a calm mind is a wonderful place to be!
How do you manage your mind when it worries? What do you do to calm your anxiety? Please share in the comments below!