What grounds you? I swear no pun was intended. But seriously, what is a ritual that brings you back to a state of BEING?
For me personally, coffee is one of those things that just grounds me every morning. The ritual of making myself a pourover that takes about 5 minutes to brew forces me to slow down for 5 minutes and breathe. To not have to rush the world or let the world rush me.
I've heard it said once or twice: “We are human beings, not human doings.”
Simple, but true.
When I move too fast in life, I start to simply DO. I become robotic in my actions. And the funny thing is that all of our technology is supposed to slow life down… but somehow I end up just moving faster than ever.
My 6-year-old stopped me last night after I finished her bedtime story and tucked her in. She had tears in her eyes. “What’s wrong?” I asked her. She just said, “I MISS you.” I knew what she meant. Earlier in the evening, she had asked me to play store with her before dinner. I felt too responsible to stop and play with her. I was running late from work, I was in the middle of making dinner, and I was already totally exhausted.
And I had missed my little moment. 10 minutes of play that would have given her everything she needed.
Can I slow down? Can I “walk slowly through the crowd” as John Maxwell says? Can I maximize my humanity with other human beings?
So here’s the encouragement: find something that grounds you today. It could be making yourself a cup of coffee, or it could be taking 60 seconds to stand in the sun with your eyes closed and soak it up.
Life is short and our relationships are finite. Let’s remember to BE.
-Collin