PACING YOURSELF IS A GIFT

The title of this week's series is called "The Gift of Pacing Yourself." Sometimes the idea of pacing ourselves can feel like a simple idea that we may do passively when we are tired or overworked. However, in a fast moving world, pacing ourselves is so much more than just a passive phrase but a way of living that is a gift. A gift that shows us what life looks like beyond the constant pressure and rush of the world we find ourselves trying to move through each day. 

Pacing ourselves is more than just moving slowly through life; it is also about allowing ourselves to receive the daily invitation to be more like nature, where everything isn't fixed onto a perfect grid of efficiency. Pacing oneself is a gift that reminds us of who we are apart from those things. And learning to pace ourselves is a gift because it teaches us that even when we are not working, we are still breathing steadily and rhythmically, and we have a presence in this world. Even when we aren't "doing anything," we are still alive. 

Pacing ourselves can often be countercultural because we live in worlds where our value is questioned when we feel we are not doing enough. But when we pace ourselves, we discover that sometimes just being is enough.

If we were to come upon a deer in the woods minding nothing more than the grass beneath her feet, we wouldn’t accuse the deer of doing “nothing.”We wouldn't expect the deer to hurry up and spend more time in the grass. But we forget to extend the same grace to ourselves. Because, while our daily lives differ in many ways from the deer's, what we share is that we are both here, within this landscape, and perhaps, for all of the extra things we have going on in our lives, there is room to just be, without expectation of needing to do more. And perhaps this remains true even if the world's expectations persist.

Even when we are constantly reminded of how little time we have to do the things we want to do, or how little certain people seem to recognize the work we put in, there is still room for us to practice pacing ourselves and rebelliously choose to discover who we are beyond all of the busyness and expectations.

Pacing yourself this week may teach you more and more about who you are when you aren't worried about what you're going to do next. Even if only for a moment, may that be the moment when you realize how much your heart is doing by continuing to beat, and how much you have worked through and overcome to learn to be present in this very moment...even if only for a moment: you are learning the art of pacing yourself, and this is important work that matters, no matter what lies ahead.

More tomorrow…
Sincerely,
Morgan Harper Nichols
@thestorytellerco
@morganharpernichols

More in this week's series called "The Gift Of Pacing Yourself", only with a subscription in the Storyteller App.

Sincerely,
Morgan Harper Nichols
@thestorytellerco
@morganharpernichols