Stoppers

Fast cars need powerful brakes.  And fast lives need powerful stoppers too. Here are some ideas:

Power Fasts – The Jesuit Volunteers use a weekly power fast.  That day, they cannot use any energy in their house – no electricity, no gas…no cheating and using flashlights either. 

·         Media Fasts – what about hours each day – or maybe a day each weekend – when you use no media – including the internet.

·         Pray-as-You-Go is one of the “tools” in the upper left hand corner of the blog.  Another is The Examen.  Try them as ways of stopping.

·         Nothing Appointments – don’t we set aside time for appointments, on our calendars, in our organizers, on our smartphones and computers?  Make a recurring appointment with…nobody, to do…nothing.  If your phone or computer or organizer has an alarm function, better yet!  I set my phone with a marvelously sacred “gong” sound.  It is calming and inviting.

·         Sit with a cuppa – We had a Chinese friend who would heat a cup of water and enjoy it as we would tea.  Another Chinese woman I knew had a cup with a cover; the act of drinking it was a slow and slowing ritual to me as I watched it.  

·         Standing in line time; traffic light time – these heavenly gifts seem like curses to us in our too-rushed lives.  They are gifts waiting to be unwrapped and enjoyed.

·         Microwave time – what do you do while your cuppa is heating up in the microwave, or your leftovers?  What a great time to stop, to just sit and wait for the bell to call you back.

What are some of your ways?